Yesterday, the White House released a truly astonishing list of the tactical accomplishments and successes achieved by our military in Operation Epic Fury. And by the numbers it must give our enemies, including Red China, Russia and North Korea, great pause in any ambitions they may have to fight the United States.
The list was a veritable showcase of American military superiority, especially when toted-up against Iranian losses:
From a tactical perspective the results of these operations have been truly breathtaking:
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.
However, there was one item on the list that we must dispute: “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.”
The notion that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regime is “desperate, dejected, and in denial” doesn’t seem to square with the facts on the ground as reported by reliable open sources both inside and outside the country.
Far from being “dejected” the Iranian leadership seems to be digging-in and redoubling its efforts to stay in power through domestic terror and repression.
Likewise, the Islamic Republic shows no signs of abandoning its support for terrorist organizations outside its borders, even going so far as to try to shoehorn protection of its proxies in Lebanon into the protection of the alleged cease-fire agreement.
How the Islamic Republic is conducting this “peace negotiation” is straight out of the Quran and the Shia “Twelver” ideology.
Shia Islamic doctrine basically revolves around end-times prophecy and an apocalyptic showdown. Their 12th Imam, the Mahdi will one day come back, wage massive bloody wars against all infidels together with his followers, slaughter them in huge numbers, and finally establish a worldwide Shia Islamic empire built on rivers of non-believer blood. That is why the Ayatollahs want nuclear weapons – in order to fight against all infidels, but especially Israel and the United States, to prepare for the return of the Mahdi, or Hidden Imam, who is believed to be in occultation in a well at a mosque in Samara, Iraq.
Crucial to understanding the Muslim art of war is the knowledge that besides being a “phofet” Muhammad was first and foremost a warlord. When Muhammad was weak and powerless in Mecca, he preached peace, tolerance, and coexistence, saying things like “You have your religion, and I have mine” (Quran 109:6).
But once he gained power in Medina, the message flipped. Suddenly, it became “Kill the polytheists wherever you find them” (Quran 9:5), and “Fight the People of the Book until they pay jizya and feel subdued” (Quran 9:29).
This wasn't divine wisdom, as one commentator put it, it was pure political strategy. Say what sounds peaceful when you're weak, then dominate once you're strong.
In that context the Iranian regime no doubt sees in Operation Epic Fury a replay of the ‘battle of Badr’ that took place on 13 March 624 A D (17 Ramadan 2 AH in the Islamic calendar). The significance of this battle lies in the disproportion of the army and arms between the two forces. In this battle, say the Quranic commentators, the Muslims fought only with 313 men having 70 camels, 2 horses, and a few swords. The Meccan forces were correspondingly numerous, mostly reported as more than a thousand. The non-Muslims were conceited, for they were sizeable and heavily armored, and this is how the Iranian regime sees the Americans.
In the battle of Badr, the Muslims prevailed because they hewed to their religious commitments, and that brought Allah and his angles in on their side. Allah says in the Quran; ‘(Remember) when you asked for help of your Lord, and He answered you,’ indeed I will reinforce you with a thousand of the angels, ranks on ranks’ (chapter 8, Surah Anfaal; 8-9), thus Muslims believe it is possible for any Muslim nation to defeat its opponents, even one many times bigger in number and much more powerful, through religious fervor.
The only measure of success in any war is defeating your enemy’s ideology and thereby destroying the enemy’s will to fight. In measuring success by toting up the sorties flown, bombs dropped and targets destroyed the Trump administration is repeating the mistakes of America’s view of success in Vietnam and Afghanistan, where our unmatched tactical successes were followed by a failure of political will and ultimate strategic defeat.
The list was a veritable showcase of American military superiority, especially when toted-up against Iranian losses:
- 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
From a tactical perspective the results of these operations have been truly breathtaking:
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.
However, there was one item on the list that we must dispute: “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.”
The notion that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regime is “desperate, dejected, and in denial” doesn’t seem to square with the facts on the ground as reported by reliable open sources both inside and outside the country.
Far from being “dejected” the Iranian leadership seems to be digging-in and redoubling its efforts to stay in power through domestic terror and repression.
Likewise, the Islamic Republic shows no signs of abandoning its support for terrorist organizations outside its borders, even going so far as to try to shoehorn protection of its proxies in Lebanon into the protection of the alleged cease-fire agreement.
How the Islamic Republic is conducting this “peace negotiation” is straight out of the Quran and the Shia “Twelver” ideology.
Shia Islamic doctrine basically revolves around end-times prophecy and an apocalyptic showdown. Their 12th Imam, the Mahdi will one day come back, wage massive bloody wars against all infidels together with his followers, slaughter them in huge numbers, and finally establish a worldwide Shia Islamic empire built on rivers of non-believer blood. That is why the Ayatollahs want nuclear weapons – in order to fight against all infidels, but especially Israel and the United States, to prepare for the return of the Mahdi, or Hidden Imam, who is believed to be in occultation in a well at a mosque in Samara, Iraq.
Crucial to understanding the Muslim art of war is the knowledge that besides being a “phofet” Muhammad was first and foremost a warlord. When Muhammad was weak and powerless in Mecca, he preached peace, tolerance, and coexistence, saying things like “You have your religion, and I have mine” (Quran 109:6).
But once he gained power in Medina, the message flipped. Suddenly, it became “Kill the polytheists wherever you find them” (Quran 9:5), and “Fight the People of the Book until they pay jizya and feel subdued” (Quran 9:29).
This wasn't divine wisdom, as one commentator put it, it was pure political strategy. Say what sounds peaceful when you're weak, then dominate once you're strong.
In that context the Iranian regime no doubt sees in Operation Epic Fury a replay of the ‘battle of Badr’ that took place on 13 March 624 A D (17 Ramadan 2 AH in the Islamic calendar). The significance of this battle lies in the disproportion of the army and arms between the two forces. In this battle, say the Quranic commentators, the Muslims fought only with 313 men having 70 camels, 2 horses, and a few swords. The Meccan forces were correspondingly numerous, mostly reported as more than a thousand. The non-Muslims were conceited, for they were sizeable and heavily armored, and this is how the Iranian regime sees the Americans.
In the battle of Badr, the Muslims prevailed because they hewed to their religious commitments, and that brought Allah and his angles in on their side. Allah says in the Quran; ‘(Remember) when you asked for help of your Lord, and He answered you,’ indeed I will reinforce you with a thousand of the angels, ranks on ranks’ (chapter 8, Surah Anfaal; 8-9), thus Muslims believe it is possible for any Muslim nation to defeat its opponents, even one many times bigger in number and much more powerful, through religious fervor.
The only measure of success in any war is defeating your enemy’s ideology and thereby destroying the enemy’s will to fight. In measuring success by toting up the sorties flown, bombs dropped and targets destroyed the Trump administration is repeating the mistakes of America’s view of success in Vietnam and Afghanistan, where our unmatched tactical successes were followed by a failure of political will and ultimate strategic defeat.
