2026-03-15T10:00:34.769Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
2024年夏季，红海海上航运面临的威胁达到顶峰。
也门胡塞武装叛军向国际船只开火，迫使海上交通避开这条全球最关键的水道之一，转而绕行非洲数千英里。到8月，他们击沉两艘船只并造成数名船员死亡，而美英打击未能阻止他们。
当时担任美国中央司令部（CENTCOM）第二号人物的副海军上将布拉德·库珀需要亲自了解这一问题。
曾在巴林担任美国海军第五舰队指挥官的库珀，对这些水域了如指掌。负责制定打击胡塞武装计划的他，深知实地考察意味着自己将置于职级远低于自己的军官指挥之下。
“他没有仅仅听取这些船只指挥官的报告，而是亲自出海与他们同行，将自己置于危险之中，”在国防部负责中东事务的丹·夏皮罗（Dan Shapiro）告诉CNN。“这体现了他对实地实时细节与战略之间联系的深刻理解。”
两年后的今天，库珀已晋升为海军上将，执掌中央司令部，该司令部正领导美以联合对伊朗的战争行动。2月28日唐纳德·特朗普下令发动行动的前一天，库珀在白宫向总统汇报了军事方案。
但随着战争在该地区扩大，伊朗攻击美军资产、海湾邻国和商用船只，战争的最终走向越来越不明朗，风险也大幅上升。
与诺曼·施瓦茨科普夫将军和大卫·彼得雷乌斯将军类似，负责美国此前中东战争的中央司令部指挥官，库珀面临着取得决定性战场胜利的巨大压力。但他也被要求执行一项已在五角大楼存在多年的对伊朗战争计划。历任总统最终都选择不执行这些计划——部分原因正是如今正在显现的后果。
美国中央司令部发布称其拍摄到对霍尔木兹岛打击的视频
1:00 • 消息来源：CNN
美国中央司令部发布称其拍摄到对霍尔木兹岛打击的视频
1:00
霍尔木兹海峡（全球最重要能源航运通道）关闭引发市场动荡。已有13名美国军人死亡，另有140人受伤。两党议员正就美国为何袭击伊朗女子学校导致168名儿童死亡一事追问答案。
现在，库珀必须在政治决策结束这场军事行动之前，确保军事行动按计划推进——无论这个过程需要多长时间。
与库珀密切合作的消息人士表示，他特别适合此刻的角色——不仅因为其战场敏锐度，还因为其政治直觉，他已学会在中东的争议水域和华盛顿的权力走廊中游走。中央司令部发言人表示库珀无法接受本报道的采访。
但对现任和前任军官、国防官员、国会议员及国会助手的采访显示，在30余年的海军生涯中，库珀在与监督其预算的国会议员互动，以及与中东盟友互动方面均表现出色。
这一点在与美国联合对伊朗作战的以色列国防军（IDF）身上尤为明显。
一位现任以色列军方官员告诉CNN，在库珀领导第五舰队的五年任期内，“在该地区没有一位以色列将军不认识他”。该官员称，库珀多次访问以色列，甚至能叫出许多以色列上校的名字。
以色列军方官员表示，库珀几乎每天都会与以色列国防军总参谋长埃亚勒·扎米尔（Eyal Zamir）进行沟通，有时一天多次。
作为一名军官，库珀上个月还罕见地与特朗普女婿贾里德·库什纳和美国特使史蒂夫·维特科夫（Steve Witkoff）一起，在阿曼与伊朗进行间接外交会谈。第二天，库珀邀请两人登上“亚伯拉罕·林肯”号航空母舰。
自2025年8月美军打击伊朗核设施两个月后，库珀接任中央司令部司令，他是第二位领导中央司令部的海军上将。
官员称，他与前任——退役陆军中将迈克尔·“埃里克”·库里拉（Michael “Erik” Kurilla）形成鲜明对比：库里拉性格张扬有时鲁莽，却更喜欢幕后工作；而库珀则更习惯公开露面。
库里拉军事生涯包括指挥特种部队，在陆军某些部队中因战场经历（包括伊拉克部署中身中数枪仍坚持战斗）而近乎传奇。一位前国防官员告诉CNN，作为一位令人敬畏的人物，“没人会质疑谁是负责人”。
库里拉是“出色的执行者”，该官员补充道。但相比之下，身材较矮、说话温和、职业生涯主要在海军舰艇上度过的库珀，似乎比库里拉更快适应了工作中的政治层面。
“他像个政客，会握手，似乎真诚地对你的谈话感兴趣，记得别人的名字——他比库里拉更好地掌握了四星上将的角色，”前官员告诉CNN。
前官员还表示，在库珀领导下，中央司令部的宣传工作更具政治性，新闻稿和视频中更多提及特朗普。他的言辞有时也呼应国防部长彼得·黑格塞斯（Pete Hegseth）的风格：在对伊朗作战开始时，库珀告诉士兵要“无情地致命”——这是黑格塞斯及其团队在五角大楼常用的表述。
“他是个会取悦人的人，你看他作证时就能看出来——有种阿拉巴马州的‘朴实谦逊’气质，”前国防官员对CNN表示。
2023年10月7日哈马斯袭击以色列后，库里拉和库珀在加沙战争期间密切合作。
“埃里克和布拉德在中东经历的最具挑战性时期之一期间，是一支了不起的团队，”拜登政府期间曾与库珀密切合作的前白宫中东和北非协调员布雷特·麦格鲁克（Brett McGurk）表示。
“历史尚未记录下我们在这段时期面临的真实情况——伊朗在整个中东开辟多条战线，袭击驻伊拉克、叙利亚、约旦的美军人员以及红海的美国船只，”现CNN全球事务分析师麦格鲁克补充道。
黑格塞斯在声明中表示：“库珀拥有我的完全信任，他对该地区的深刻理解和对战斗的专注，对当前‘史诗狂怒’行动中支持我们战士的任务和持续成功至关重要。”
黑格塞斯称，当前行动离不开去年夏天打击伊朗核设施的“全面成功”——该行动由库里拉监督。“在两位指挥官领导下，中央司令部加强了与关键地区伙伴的协调，同时让我们的部队专注于击败威胁和保护美国利益。”
库里拉准备退休时，前国防官员称他极力推荐库珀接任，直接告诉特朗普尽管有其他候选人，库珀应成为下一任中央司令部司令。而尊重库里拉的特朗普采纳了这一建议。
库珀是职业陆军军官的儿子，1989年毕业于美国海军学院。他在哈佛大学和塔夫茨大学学习国际关系，并获得国家情报大学战略情报硕士学位。
库珀的职业生涯包括在日本、韩国和巴林领导多个司令部，在担任第五舰队指挥官前已获得多个指挥职位。
在华盛顿，他曾在白宫、国防部担任行政和军事助理，并负责海军立法事务办公室。
在奥巴马政府时期的白宫担任军事助理期间，库珀负责由时任第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马发起的一项倡议，旨在为退伍军人确保就业和教育机会，同时总统逐步减少驻伊拉克美军。
海军立法事务职位让库珀与现在监督美国对伊朗战争的国会委员会以及任何资助战争的补充支出请求产生联系。退役众议员、得克萨斯州共和党人、前众议院武装部队委员会主席麦克·索恩伯里（Mac Thornberry）表示，这一职位有助于高级指挥官学会在华盛顿的“政治”水域中导航。
“任何我们的战斗司令部都将做出接受大量审查的决定。立法事务职位有助于他们意识到这些因素，”索恩伯里说，“此外，显然这也帮助他们直接了解资金来源。”
库珀执掌第五舰队后开始与更多议员会面。一位活跃于军事事务的众议院民主党人称赞库珀“聪明且深思熟虑”，并指出他领导了一支在霍尔木兹海峡使用无人机的创新特遣部队。
一位民主党国会助手告诉CNN：“他被称为直言不讳的人。我认为总体而言，国会山的人们喜欢他这个人，但根据我们的经验，他也是专业人士，非常坦率。”
多年来，库珀与以色列有着深厚联系——一位与他密切合作的前以色列军方高级官员称这种联系“发自内心”。
这种关系可追溯到库珀担任第五舰队指挥官时期。
“当时与以色列海军的合作前所未有，”前以色列军方官员表示，“当时做出的主要决定之一是在以色列海军部署一名美国联络官，并在麦纳麦海军基地安排一名以色列联络官，这表明了合作的深度。”
前官员称，库珀组织了该地区海军之间的会议，并将海军指挥官联系起来，建立了一个“区域海上反恐怖主义警戒网”。
库珀与以色列的关系超越了职业层面。11月，他在以色列裔美国人奥默·诺特拉（Omer Neutra）的葬礼上发表讲话，后者在加沙两年战争后被哈马斯释放。“奥默做出了我们希望没有士兵必须做出的终极牺牲，但许多人仍然为更高目标而牺牲，”库珀说。
2024年4月伊朗首次向以色列发射弹道导弹和无人机后，库里拉在中东奔走，在与以色列没有外交关系的国家间建立区域导弹防御网络。
官员告诉CNN，当库珀去年8月升任中央司令部司令时，他继承了库里拉未竟的事业，深化了前任奠定的关系。
以色列军方官员称，库珀6月亲自复盘了美以对伊朗行动，继续与前任保持联系。两国开始探讨在新一轮冲突时如何“协作与协调”，分享经验教训并研究区域情景。
这些讨论为上月美以联合打击伊朗铺平了道路。
“相同的精神和模式没有发生戏剧性变化，这很有帮助，”以色列军方官员表示，“指挥官继续沿着前任的道路前进。”
https://www.cnn.com/
The admiral navigating the battlefield — and the politics of Trump’s Iran war
2026-03-15T10:00:34.769Z / CNN
In the summer of 2024, the threat to maritime shipping in the Red Sea was at its peak.
Houthi rebels in Yemen were firing on international vessels, forcing marine traffic to avoid one of the world’s most critical waterways and to sail thousands of miles around Africa instead. By August, they sank two ships and killed several crew members, as US and UK strikes failed to deter them.
Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, then the No. 2 at US Central Command, needed to see the problem for himself.
Cooper, who was in charge of coming up with a plan to combat the Houthis, knew the waters well as former commander of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain, said Dan Shapiro, who worked at the Defense Department on Middle East Affairs. Experiencing the problem firsthand meant that Cooper would be placing himself under the command of officers far junior to himself.
“Rather than just take in the reports of the commanders of those vessels, he went out and sailed with them. He put himself in harm’s way,” Shapiro told CNN. “It says something about his understanding of the connection between the real-time details on the ground and the strategy.”
Two years later, Cooper, now an admiral, is in charge of Central Command, or CENTCOM, which is leading the joint US-Israeli war effort against Iran. The day before Donald Trump gave the order to launch the operation on February 28, Cooper briefed the president at the White House on military options.
But as the war expands across the region, with Iran attacking US assets, Gulf neighbors and commercial vessels, the endgame has become less and less clear. And the stakes have risen considerably.
Like generals Norman Schwarzkopf and David Petraeus, CENTCOM commanders who oversaw previous US war efforts in the Middle East, Cooper is under immense pressure to deliver a decisive battlefield victory. But he’s also been asked to execute a war plan against Iran that has existed inside the Pentagon in some shape or form for years. Past presidents ultimately chose not to carry out those plans — in part because of the repercussions now unfolding.
US CENTCOM released video it says shows strikes on Kharg Island
1:00 • Source: CNN
US CENTCOM released video it says shows strikes on Kharg Island
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Markets are roiled by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most vital energy shipping lane. Thirteen American service members have been killed, with another 140 wounded. And bipartisan lawmakers are pressing for answers on what led the US to strike an Iranian girls’ school that killed 168 children.
It’s now up to Cooper to keep the military campaign on track until a political decision is made to end it — however long that may take.
Sources who have worked closely with Cooper say he is particularly well-equipped for this moment — not just due to his battlefield acumen but also because of his political instincts, having learned to navigate both the contested waters of the Middle East and the corridors of power in Washington. A spokesperson for CENTCOM said Cooper was not available to be interviewed for this story.
But interviews with current and former military officers, defense officials, lawmakers and congressional aides reveal that over a naval career spanning more than three decades, Cooper has proved effective both in his interactions with lawmakers in Congress who oversaw his budgets as well as with his allied counterparts in the Middle East.
That was especially true of the Israel Defense Forces now jointly conducting military operations with the US against Iran.
“After five years in the region, I don’t believe there was a general in Israel who did not know him,” a current Israeli military official told CNN of Cooper’s tenure leading the Navy’s Fifth Fleet. Cooper visited Israel so many times that he came to know many Israeli colonels by name, too, the official said.
Cooper has spoken almost daily — and sometimes multiple times a day — with the Israeli military chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli official said.
In a rarity for a military officer, Cooper also joined Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US envoy Steve Witkoff last month for indirect diplomatic talks with Iran in Oman. Kushner and Witkoff visited the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier the following day at Cooper’s invitation.
Since taking over in August 2025, two months after US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Cooper is just the second Navy admiral to lead CENTCOM.
Officials say he is a contrast to his predecessor, retired Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, who had a big and at-times brash personality but largely preferred to stay behind the scenes, while Cooper is more comfortable in the spotlight.
Kurilla, whose military career included commanding special operations forces, holds a nearly mythological status in parts of the Army due to his time in combat, including a deployment to Iraq when he was shot multiple times but continued fighting. An imposing figure and personality, “nobody wondered who was in charge” when Kurilla was in a room, a former defense official told CNN.
Kurilla was a “brilliant operator,” the official added. But Cooper — smaller in stature and more soft-spoken, with a career largely spent serving aboard US Navy ships — seems to have eased into the more political aspects of his job faster than Kurilla ever did, the official said.
“He’s a politician, he shakes hands, seems genuinely interested in whatever you’re talking about, remember’s people’s names — he’s got the four-star piece figured out way better than Kurilla,” the former official said.
Under Cooper, CENTCOM’s messaging has become in some ways more political, with more references to Trump in press releases and videos, the former official said. His language also appears at times to echo that of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: In a message to service members as operations against Iran began, Cooper told troops to be “relentlessly lethal,” a term frequently used by Hegseth and his team in the Pentagon.
“He’s a people pleaser. You can see it when he testifies — he has this kind of Alabama ‘aw shucks’ demeanor,” the former defense official told CNN.
After the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023, Kurilla and Cooper worked closely together as the war in Gaza unfolded.
“Erik and Brad were a tremendous team during perhaps one of the most challenging periods the Middle East had ever seen,” said Brett McGurk, former White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, who worked extensively with Cooper during the Biden administration.
“History has not yet recorded the true story of what we confronted during this period, with Iran opening fronts across the Middle East, attacking American personnel in Iraq, Syria, Jordan and American ships in the Red Sea,” said McGurk, now a CNN global affairs analyst.
In a statement to CNN, Hegseth said Cooper “has my full and complete confidence” and that Cooper’s “deep understanding of the region and focus on the fight is critical to the mission and continued success of our warfighters supporting Operation Epic Fury today.”
Hegseth said the current operation would not have been possible without the “total success” of last summer’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, overseen by Kurilla. “Under both commanders, CENTCOM has strengthened coordination with key regional partners, while keeping our forces focused on defeating threats and protecting American interests,” Hegseth said.
As Kurilla prepared to retire, the former defense official said he lobbied for Cooper to get the job, telling Trump directly that Cooper should take over as the next CENTCOM commander despite other names being floated. And Trump, who respected Kurilla, took his recommendation to heart, the former official added.
The son of a career Army officer, Cooper graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1989. He studied international relations at Harvard and Tufts and received a master’s degree in strategic intelligence from the National Intelligence University.
Cooper’s career includes stints leading commands based in Japan, South Korea and Bahrain, where he held several commands before leading the Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
In Washington, he served as an executive and military assistant at the White House, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and was head of the Navy’s legislative affairs office.
As a military assistant in the White House under Barack Obama, Cooper was in charge of an initiative championed by then-first lady Michelle Obama to secure jobs and education for veterans as the president wound down US troop presence in Iraq.
The Navy legislative affairs job put Cooper in touch with congressional committees that now oversee the US war in Iran — and any supplemental spending requests to fund it. It’s a job that is helpful for senior commanders to learn to navigate the “political” waters of Washington, said retired Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican who chaired the House Armed Services Committee.
“Any of our combatant commanders are going to make decisions that will receive a lot of scrutiny. The Leg (Affairs) job helps sensitize them to some of those factors,” Thornberry said. “Plus, obviously, it helps them see firsthand where their funding comes from.”
Cooper began meeting more lawmakers when he took over the Fifth Fleet. A House Democrat active on military issues praised Cooper as “smart and thoughtful,” pointing to an innovative task force he led using drones in the Strait of Hormuz.
“He’s known as a straight shooter,” a Democratic congressional aide told CNN. “I think generally folks on the Hill enjoy him as a person, but in our experience he’s also a professional, very forthcoming.”
For years, Cooper has had a deep connection to Israel — one that comes “from his heart,” according to a former senior Israeli military official who has worked closely with him.
That relationship dates to Cooper’s time as the commander of the Fifth Fleet.
“There was unprecedented cooperation with the Israeli navy,” the former Israeli military official said. “One of the main decisions made at the time was to place an American liaison officer in the Israeli navy and an Israeli liaison officer at the naval base in Manama, which shows the extent of the partnership.”
The former official said Cooper organized meetings between the navies in the region and connected the naval commanders to create a “regional maritime watch against terrorism.”
Cooper’s relationship with Israel goes beyond the professional. In November, he spoke at the funeral of Israeli American hostage Omer Neutra, whose remains were released by Hamas after two years of war in Gaza. “Omer made the ultimate sacrifice we hope no soldier ever has to make, but many have made it nonetheless, in service to a higher cause,” Cooper said.
After Iran first launched ballistic missiles and drones at Israel in April 2024, Kurilla raced around the Middle East, setting up a regional missile defense network between countries that didn’t all have diplomatic relations with Israel.
When Cooper was promoted to the head of CENTCOM last August, he picked up where Kurilla left off, officials told CNN, deepening the relationships his predecessor had seeded.
He conducted his own debriefing of the US and Israeli operations against Iran last June, the Israeli military official said, as he remained in touch with his predecessor. The official said the two countries began to figure out how to “collaborate and coordinate” in the event of another round, sharing lessons learned and exploring regional scenarios.
The discussions set the stage for last month’s joint US-Israeli attack on Iran.
“It helps that you have the same spirit and nothing changes in a dramatic fashion,” an Israeli military official said, “and that the commander continues in the path of the previous commander.
https://www.cnn.com/