A retired four-star U.S. Army general said Tuesday that the Iranian regime is paying “a much-deserved consequence” for miscalculating President Donald Trump.
The United States and Israel launched a joint military operation against the rogue regime on Feb. 28.
Gen. Jack Keane, chair of the board at the Institute for the Study of War and former vice chief of staff of the Army, told WABC-AM’s “Cats & Cosby” that Iranian leaders believed they could drag out negotiations with the U.S. over their nuclear program and that any military strike would be brief.
“What these guys did, Rita and John, is they fundamentally miscalculated President Trump,” Keane told hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby, according to The Hill. “They bought into the fact that Trump really wanted to negotiate, and they could stall those negotiations, and that even if he did go to war, it would only last a couple or three days because he wouldn’t have the patience to deal with it beyond that.
“What a fundamental miscalculation that they did here, and they’re certainly suffering a much-deserved consequence of all of that.”
The conflict, now in its 11th day, has resulted in the deaths of several of Iran’s most senior political and military officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the opening phase of Operation Epic Fury.
The U.S. and Israel have also destroyed Iranian missile stockpiles, missile launchers, the country’s defense industrial base, and elements of its navy.
The mission also aims to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to erode the regime’s support for proxy terror groups.
“It’s a laser-focused, maximum-authority mission delivered with overwhelming and unrelenting precision,” War Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Tuesday in a briefing aired live on Newsmax and the free Newsmax2 streaming platform.
“No hesitation, no half measures,” he said. “As President Trump declared yesterday, we’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force.
“We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated. But we do so on our timeline and at our choosing.
“For example, today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran. The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes. Intelligence more refined and better than ever.
“So that’s on one hand. On the other hand, the last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest number of missiles they’ve been capable of firing.”
Hegseth said Operation Epic Fury is unlike the “quagmires we saw” under former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
“It’s not even close,” he said. “Our generation of soldier will not let that happen again. And nor will this president, who very clearly ran against those kinds of never-ending nebulously scoped missions. Those days are dead.
“Instead, we’re winning decisively with brutal efficiency, total air dominance, and an unbreakable will to accomplish the president’s objectives. On our timeline.
“We stay locked on the target because here at the Department of War, that’s our job.”
