The United States began an initiative on Feb. 28 to hunt, dismantle, demoralize, destroy, and defeat its radical Islamist Iranian adversaries, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth claims America is winning decisively, devastatingly, and without mercy.
The conflict began with a direct command from President Donald Trump in combination with Israeli Defense Forces, which Hegseth described in the Pentagon’s briefing room on March 4 as being a devastatingly capable force.
“Metrics are shifting,” Hegseth said. “Dust is settling, and more forces are arriving. It's very early, and as President Trump has said, we will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed.”
U.S. and Israeli forces struck more than 1,000 targets within the first 24 hours of launching Operation Epic Fury.
Targets included command and control centers, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ headquarters, air defense systems, ballistic missile launch sites, and naval ships.
Hegseth specified that an Iranian warship was sunk in international waters.
The overall goal of Operation Epic Fury, according to Hegseth, is to establish Iranian skies as an uncontested airspace and to have complete control of that corridor.
“Our rules of engagement are bold, precise, and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it,” he said. “This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they're down, which is exactly how it should be.”
Hegseth described a looming world in which B2s, B52s, B1s, Predator drones, and fighters control the Iranian skies and pick targets of death and destruction from the sky.
“All day long,” he said. “We're playing for keeps. Our war fighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly.”
The blitz, granted by Trump and Hegseth, will be the topic of discussion today when the U.S. Senate votes on the decision to launch the conflict against Iran.
If the proposed War Powers Resolution is approved, lawmakers will be empowered to demand Congressional approval for future attacks. The House will vote on its sister legislation later this week.
The war power restriction bills, however, are likely to be short-lived since both chambers of Congress are majority Republican and Trump has the ultimate authority to veto the bills as president of the United States.
“More bombers and more fighters are arriving just today, and now with complete control of the skies, we will be using 500-pound, 1000-pound, and 2000-pound GPS and laser-guided precision gravity bombs, of which we have a nearly unlimited stockpile,” Hegseth said. “We used more exquisite standoff munitions at the start, but no longer need to. Our stockpiles of those, as well as patriots, remains extremely strong.”
One of the first casualties of the surprise attack was Iran’s 86-year-old religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on March 1.
Khamenei had led the Islamic Republic since 1989.
Since then, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has named the first phase of its retaliation, “Truthful Promise 4,” and has struck military targets in Israel, the U.S. 5th Fleet’s command in Bahrain, as well as U.S. bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The American dead include Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa. The names of two more have yet to be released.
“Much was made of the volume of missiles Iran was able to shoot in the first few days, and sadly, as we projected, a few got through and killed six of our best who will hopefully arrive home soon,” Hegseth added. “We will avenge them, no doubt.”