Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Wednesday boasted of the “death and destruction” the U.S. military can rain down on Iran, as reports say that U.S. and Israeli airstrikes have killed over 1,000 Iranian civilians in just four days.
Hegseth said at a press briefing that the U.S. and Israel should soon have “complete control of Iranian skies” and that it would mean “Iranian leaders looking up and seeing only U.S. and Israeli airpower.”
“Every minute of every day until we decide it’s over, and Iran will be able to do nothing about it. B-2s, B-52s, B1s, Predator drones, fighters controlling the skies, picking targets, death and destruction from the sky all day long,” he added.
[As the Pentagon is reportedly seeking an additional $50 billion to wage its unauthorized war on Iran] Hegseth said the war wasn’t meant to be a “fair fight” and mentioned that the administration has loosened the rules of engagement for the military.
“Our war fighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly. Our rules of engagement are bold, precise, and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it. 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,” he said.
Hegseth said that in the attack on Iran, which he has dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” the U.S. military has “delivered twice the air power of ‘Shock and Awe’ in 2003,” referring to the massive bombing campaign that opened the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said at the conference that the U.S. had hit over 2,000 targets inside Iran so far.
Hellbound and Down 