Epic Fury, strategic failure: America’s Iran debacle

Dr. America’s attack on Iran has exposed the limits of US military power, exhausted its defenses and strengthened the very forces Washington was trying to weaken, writes Binoy Kampmark.

ON MAY 10, Robert KaganThe high priest of neoconservative thought, the cynic of muscular interventionism and general American interventionism, complained: Atlantic He said the United States had suffered an unprecedented defeat in its efforts to subdue Iran.

The article says a lot about Kagan’s identification with the obvious; Some success, given the military fantasy and fantasy that continues to taint the current Trump Administration.

Regardless, he thinks the Iran war has brought a unique defeat to the United States. ‘It can neither be repaired nor ignored’. No final American victory will emerge and nothing will emerge. ‘Undo or overcome the damage done’ with ‘return to previous status quo’. The Strait of Hormuz would not be “open” as it was before February 28. Iran’s regional position, far from atrophying, had improved. China and Russia had become stronger; The US is “significantly reduced”.

Kagan argues that:

‘Far from demonstrating American courage, as supporters of the war claimed, the conflict revealed an America that was untrustworthy and incapable of finishing what it started.’

The reason for this incentive is undoubtedly claim Made by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio In the White House Press Briefing Room on May 5 Operation Epic Rage Although US President Donald Trump is always willing to stay in the fire, he concluded: furious Iran had to accept this ‘Giving what we agreed upon’. (In Trumpland, “what” is always the issue.) Failure to do so will result in a bombing. ‘At a much higher level and intensity than before’.

The President also said, “paused” Project FreedomThat massive fantasy support involving the use of the US military to escort commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. This pause (effectively a cheerful ending) was due in no small part to Saudi Arabia’s petulance. Mohammed bin SalmanHe was concerned that adventurism in the Bosphorus would provoke a new round of Iranian attacks on the Gulf states. Crown Prince to show his disapproval rejected Allowing the use of Prince Sultan Air Base for US operations.

Iran’s airstrikes have also demonstrated much more negativity than was initially reported, at least in Western media. Some of these can be reduced to: broadcast restrictions Satellite images provided by commercial providers Vantor And Planet. Both complied with the Pentagon’s request to limit, delay or indefinitely halt the timely release of images covering the area. Iranians felt no such constraint through state-run news sources.

on May 6 Washington PostAfter reviewing satellite images, Iran reported that approximately 228 structures and pieces of equipment at US military facilities in the Middle East have been damaged and destroyed since February 28. Hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft, vital radars, communications and air defense equipment were hit by Iranian forces. The dangers posed by Iranian attacks were great enough to force some US bases in the region to move personnel out of missile range.

In its analysis, the paper claims to verify approximately 109 images with the help of comparison with lower resolution images obtained from the European Union. Copernican satellite system and high-resolution images available from Planet.

Iranian footage also confirmed the damage or destruction to many US military assets previously reported:

radomes at Camp Arifjan and Ali al-Salem Air Base and 5th Fleet Headquarters in Kuwait;
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Missile defense radars and equipment located at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan and two sites in the United Arab Emirates;
a second satellite communications site located at al-Udeid Air Base; And
An E-3 Sentry command and control aircraft and a refueling tanker at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Analysts who came to the scene to examine the footage were impressed.

Mark Canciana former Marine Corps colonel and senior advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), to create strikes being “final”:

“There are no random craters that indicate they were missed.”

William Goodhind open access research project Controversial Groundas well as noting the destruction of equipment, fuel depots and air base infrastructure. damage with “Soft targets like gyms, dining halls and hospitality”.

To add bitter insult to mounting injuries, the defenses used to deal with Iran’s attacks have proven surprisingly tiring and disproportionately costly. CSIS estimates that at least 190 THAAD interceptors and 1,060 Patriot interceptors were deployed between February 28 and April 8, causing stockpiles to decrease by 53% and 43%, respectively.

According to one source, just to improve the atmosphere in Washington and Tehran analysis The US intelligence community holds approximately 75% of its pre-war stockpile of mobile launchers and approximately 70% of its pre-war missile stockpile. Although vague, this is another defeat of Operation Epic Rage’s aim.

While the childish pantomime of lack of diplomacy continues (Trump anger Considering recent developments, a ceasefire with Tehran is “piece of garbage” counter offer is on the agenda “life support”), Washington is relying on its policy of strangulation through another project of dubious value: Economic Rage.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent crowed On May 11:

“As the Iranian military desperately tries to regroup, Economic Rage will continue to deprive the regime of the funding needed for its weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions. The Treasury will continue to cut the Iranian regime off from the financial networks it uses to carry out acts of terrorism and destabilize the global economy.”

Economic Anger, which has just been swaddled, also carries the risk of early retirement. Iran’s stubbornness and staunch resilience continue to trouble analysts in the intelligence community. A CIA analysis distributed this month He concluded that Tehran could withstand a US naval blockade for 90 to 120 days before suffering a dramatic economic deterioration.

Iran’s economy may be in dire shape, but narrow-minded determination has a certain staying power. But bureaucratic wrangling often gets in the way, and a senior U.S. intelligence official (who could be anyone) has come forward to dispute the assessment’s claims. Real, widespread and immediate economic damage is being done. The USA continues to remain on the rise.

These various intelligence assessments of decorative astrology cannot escape the idiotic reasoning supporting the war, as well as the failure to consider the shocks caused not only by Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz but also by the systematic dismantling of the US security guarantee to the Gulf states.

Unlike the clumsy, creative antics that preceded the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the CIA and allied intelligence services were well aware that a campaign against Iran was fraught with terrible risks. Trapped and trapped, Trump will find it difficult to avoid exploiting the Chinese President’s good will Xi Jinping Leaning on Beijing’s ally. If so, it is bound to come at a firm price.