The fighting in the Middle East is still going on, and it's hard to see an end in the near future. Iran's political leadership may have absconded, leaving Tehran to seek shelter in a city near the Afghan border, leaving the country's defense in the hands of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The United States is trying to keep vital shipping moving through the key Strait of Hormuz, while Iran is still trying to close that critical waterway. There are a lot of moving parts here.
Friday morning, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth spoke to the assembled media, providing a comprehensive update on the progress of Operation Epic Fury - the ongoing effort to remove the destructive, terror-sponsoring theocratic regime in Iran. RedState's own Jennifer Oliver O'Connell and RC Maxwell covered that session in their excellent write-ups:
Read More: ‘Decimated’: Hegseth Says Iran’s Military Is Being Crushed in Operation Epic Fury
Hegseth Honors Fallen While Sounding Off on Legacy Media’s Embrace of Propaganda
But here's the comment from SecWar that stood out, in my estimation.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday confirmed reports Iran's new supreme leader was wounded during the U.S.-Israeli military action, adding that Mojtaba Khamenei likely has been "disfigured."
In a forceful Pentagon briefing shown live on Newsmax, Hegseth said the Iranian regime is reeling after nearly two weeks of sustained U.S. and Israeli strikes, with its leadership in hiding and its military capabilities rapidly collapsing.
In other words, the Iranian theocratic ship is sinking, and the rats are lining up to leave it before is slips under the waves. We can hope SecWar's assessment is correct here, but this is the money quote:
"We know the new so-called not so supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured," Hegseth said, arguing that the absence of a public video or voice message from Khamenei spoke volumes.
He described Iran's ruling class as "desperate and hiding," saying the regime can barely communicate, let alone coordinate.
The broader message from Friday's briefing was that the Trump administration believes the campaign is working exactly as intended.
The Secretary of War, in this comment, invoked a tactic that the American military has used since our own revolution: We go after the other side's leaders, and we're pretty good at it. In our revolution, in many engagements, riflemen, many of them veterans of the French and Indians wars and our own wild frontier, targeted British officers. Both sides did the same in our Civil War; even generals were not immune, such as General John Reynolds, killed by a Confederate sharpshooter at Gettysburg.
In my own years in uniform, friends of mine who had been through the Armor school related how one key lesson they learned at Ft. Knox in those Cold War days was that the Soviet Union only put radios in tanks that contained platoon leaders and commanders, and so to target any antenna tank first.
And, in Operation Epic Fury, one of our first coups was taking out the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini. Now, according to Secretary Hegseth, we have badly damaged his son and replacement - and in so doing have sent a dark message to the rest of the Iranian theocracy's leadership. That message? Simply this:
"You can run. You can't hide. We will find you. And you will know we have found you because a Tomahawk missile will come through your window, or a killer drone will detonate your automobile, or a JDAM will bust your bunker."
It's a solid tactic. And it's one great way to win. Target the leaders. Take them out. All of them.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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