LAS AMERICAS NEWSPAPER EDITORIAL. – The “most lethal, complex and precise in history”, as this Monday, March 2, the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Pete Hegseth, described the “Epic Fury” operation, launched on Saturday, February 28 by the United States and Israel against the Iranian regime in the Middle East.
Hegseth said that the military offensive ordered by President Donald Trump against Iran has achieved a change in that country’s regime and assured that these attacks are not similar to those in Iraq, nor will it become an “endless” conflict.
“This is not a war of regime change, but surely the regime has changed and the world is better for it,” added the head of the Pentagon at a press conference where he also referred to a key element of this operation, the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Hegseth, along with Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held the first news conference since the attacks began Saturday.
He insisted that the attacks are carried out “precisely, overwhelmingly,” and added that as the conflict progresses, US capabilities “get stronger and Iran’s get weaker.”
“We set the terms of this war from beginning to end. Our ambitions are not utopian. They are realistic,” he warned and reiterated that Trump and his Cabinet previously did everything to achieve a diplomatic solution, but that Tehran was dragging its feet to “gain time to recharge its missile arsenals.”
“This is not Iraq. This is not endless. (…) This is the complete opposite. This operation is a clear, devastating and decisive mission: destroy the missile threat, destroy the Navy, no nuclear weapons,” Hegseth said.
The Secretary of Defense began the Pentagon press conference by saying that for “47 long years,” the Iranian regime had been waging a “savage, unilateral war against the United States.”
He said they did it through “the blood of our people, car bombs in Beirut, rocket attacks on our ships, assassinations in our embassies, bombs on the roads of Iraq and Afghanistan.”
He added, “We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are ending it.”
He was emphatic in stating that there are no US troops on the ground in Iran, but “we will go as far as we need to”
Four US soldiers killed
The United States Army Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed this Monday a fourth soldier killed during the operation.
This soldier was seriously wounded “in the initial attacks on Iran” on Saturday and has now died from his wounds, CENTCOM said in a statement, without giving further details.
The United States confirmed this Sunday the death of three of its soldiers without specifying how or where the deaths occurred and also reported five injuries.
He added that several other soldiers suffered minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and are in the process of returning to duty.
In its statement this Monday, CENTCOM reiterated that the identity of the fallen will be kept confidential until 24 hours after notification to their families.
“Major combat operations continue and our response efforts continue,” the US military command insisted.
With the joint bombings by Israel and the United States against Iran that began on Saturday, in addition to the Ayatollah, a good part of the Iranian military leadership was also annihilated.
Iran has promised to avenge Khamenei’s death and, so far, has attacked the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, among other allies of Washington where the North American power maintains military bases.
This Monday, CENTCOM also confirmed that the three US military planes that crashed in Kuwait fell “in error” due to Kuwaiti “friendly fire”, and that their crew members ejected in time and are “in stable condition.”
