CENTCOM Commander Kenneth McKenzie contended that “the Iranians have never doubted our capability to respond...But they’ve often doubted our will to respond. I think that the Soleimani episode last January sort of set them back and they had to recalculate the will of the U.S.”. He further opined that “the death of Soleimani unhinged Iran’s ability to direct these [Iraqi militia] units forcefully… there’s actually a lot more dissonance between these groups and among these groups as they go forward”. This was “not necessarily a bad thing”, McKenzie said, though “it also opens the door for people to make an unapproved attack”.