President Donald Trump has ordered a start to “Operation Epic Fury,” a joint U.S.-Israeli air campaign targeting Iran’s naval, nuclear, and missile forces, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The president’s strategy appears to center on throwing as much firepower against the core instruments of Iran’s power as possible in the hope that doing so will bring down the regime or produce a more malleable negotiating partner. What will happen next is very hard to predict.
In a speech announcing military action early Saturday morning, Trump declared that he had chosen to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.” Addressing the Iranian people, Trump added, “The hour of your freedom is at hand… take over your government.”
