The following is a press release from the White House Office of Communications.
President Donald J. Trump laid out clear objectives in Operation Epic Fury — and in just 38 days, the greatest fighting force the world has ever known has met those objectives with overwhelming strength and lethal precision. Iran has now agreed to a ceasefire and reopening the Strait of Hormuz as the Trump Administration negotiates a broader peace agreement — once more proving Peace Through Strength victorious.
- Secretary of War Pete Hegseth: “From the strike that took out Qasem Soleimani to tearing up the disastrous Obama Iran deal, to the precision campaign that obliterated Iran’s nuclear sites in Operation Midnight Hammer to the decisive military victory we just achieved in Operation Epic Fury, no other President has shown the courage and resolve of this Commander-in-Chief. President Trump forged this moment. Iran begged for this ceasefire — and we all know it.”
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine: “On February 28, the President of the United States ordered the Joint Force to execute Operation Epic Fury with the direction to accomplish three distinct military objectives: destroy Iran’s ballistic missile and drone capabilities, destroy the Iranian navy, and destroy their defense industrial base to ensure that Iran cannot reconstitute the ability to project power outside their borders. Over the course of 38 days of major combat operation, the joint force achieved the military objectives as defined by the President.”
- White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: “This is a victory for the United States of America that the President and our incredible military made happen. From the very beginning of Operation Epic Fury, President Trump stated this would be a four-to-six-week military operation to dismantle the military threat posed by the radical Islamic Iranian regime. Thanks to the unbelievable capabilities of America’s warfighters, the United States has achieved and exceeded those core military objectives in just 38 days.”
A Showcase of American Military Superiority:
- Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and production capacity has been razed. More than 85% of the regime’s defense industrial base, including the majority of its ballistic missiles, launcher vehicles, and long-range attack drones, has been destroyed — eliminating its ability to project power and use these capabilities as a shield around their ultimate pursuit of nuclear weapons.
- Iran’s air forces have been functionally neutered. Before Operation Epic Fury, the Iranian air force would fly between 30 to 100 flights each day; today, that number is zero.
- Iran’s navy has been obliterated. 150 warships across 16 classes have been destroyed, every submarine has been sunk, and 97% of its once-massive inventory of naval mines have been eliminated.
- Iran can no longer arm terrorist proxies. The majority of the regime’s offensive weapons are destroyed and the regime can no longer manufacture new terror weapons like ballistic missiles and long-range drones.
- Iran’s once-vaunted space program has been devastated. 70% of its launch facilities and ground control stations have been destroyed or degraded, preventing the regime from using space for military purposes.
- What’s left of the Iranian regime is desperate, dejected, and in denial. Iran’s command and control structures have been shattered by more than 2,000 strikes, triggering leadership losses, paralysis, and military desertions.
Operation Epic Fury by the Numbers:
- Over 10,200 total air sorties flown
- Over 13,000 targets struck, including:
- More than 2,000 command and control targets
- More than 1,450 defense and industrial base targets
- More than 1,500 air defense targets
- More than 700 mine systems
- Approximately 800 attack drone targets
- More than 600 naval targets
- More than 450 ballistic missile targets
- Over 1,000 incoming attack drone threats intercepted
- Over 700 ballistic missile threats intercepted
The overwhelming might and fury of the American military gave President Trump maximum leverage. As the Trump Administration enters this next phase of negotiations, it is clear that America stands stronger, our enemies weaker, and the world safer.
My first thought when reading this headline was that this is clearly oversimplifying the true situation. Then I thought that, perhaps, this was just another press release from the White House putting the best possible spin on things. And sure enough, that’s what it was.
Now this is SOP for every administration. Their press releases are always full of rosy rhetoric. I don’t blame them for that. Where the fault lies is with people like SA who will just print what really is nothing more than propaganda and not provide any fact checking or reasoned commentary. For example, this article claims that “Iran has now agreed to a ceasefire and reopening the Strait of Hormuz”. While it is true that there has been the announcement of a ceasefire, what the ceasefire actually means is clearly not settled (right now, Israel says it doesn’t apply to Lebanon, Pakistan says it does, Trump originally said it did, then changed his mind). And the Strait of Hormuz is hardly “open” as this sentence simplistically suggests.
Some of this could easily be attributed to posturing by the two sides and the “fog of war” and might end up being settled fairly quickly. But this article strongly implies that everything has already been settled which is undeniably not the case. But you wouldn’t know that from reading this article.
The other thing that this article (and the article referenced from this one) hammer on is that the objectives of this war were clearly delineated and haven’t changed since the war started. That is simply not true. When the war started, Trump listed these four goals: (1) no nuclear weapons, (2) no long-range missiles, (3) no navy, and (4) no support for terrorist groups. We have certainly functionally destroyed Iran’s navy (although why this was such an important goal was never publicly stated). And we have certainly set back their nuclear and missile programs. The “support for terrorist groups” is still up in the air. Iranian support for foreign terrorist groups had been diminished before the war started. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens from here on out.
But as far as I know, we haven’t retrieved any enriched uranium from Iran yet.
But early on Trump also demanded “unconditional surrender” from the Iranians. That somehow isn’t mentioned in the putative goals. Likewise, Trump has demanded that the Strait of Hormuz be kept open and free for all to sail through. That’s not listed in the goals from the White House press release either.
And, of course, Trump has openly mused about regime change, even claiming that regime change had actually happened which is arrant nonsense.
My point is not that everything won’t work out fine (although at the moment, I believe that any reasonable person would have to conclude that it doesn’t look good given that Iran continues to keep the Strait of Hormuz largely closed and that fact is driving lots of economic pain around the world). My point is that the outcome of the war is far from settled, this White House press release notwithstanding.
My other point is that I don’t follow the news that closely, and I know that a lot of what’s in this press release severely distorts current reality. And if I know it, SA just has to know it (it’s kind of her job to follow the news after all). So why isn’t there some commentary that points out the distortions in this article? Perhaps her masters at Sinclair won’t allow it. Not good, Bob.
Lisa,
Sharyl
—and Full Measure Team :
Re : an
“Epic Fury,” held against all Porn Venues in Western societies.
Forwarded Message :
Would that “The View” gals banter back and forth
about children being exposed to child molesters—
EVERYWHERE (( now, porn is even in TV Ads; e.g., that
that THUNE-Beds ad had once showed just a White,
red-headed girl jumping/dancing all over one their beds,
then, weeks later, the camera backs out of her room
—to see a black man sitting in a chair – of all things he
could be doing – READING a newspaper. The sex-
MESSAGE : She’s excited about a black man, soon
coming into the room and boinking her )).
/R
You are sick, you must get some help. Start by having that thing inside of you exorcised. Best wishes on your road to health and joy.