| HOOKED ON A 'STRONG' FEELING: In a remarkably candid Oval Office session President Donald Trump dropped any pretense that his decision to launch a full-scale war against Iran was based on solid intelligence that Iran was preparing to launch preemptive strikes against U.S. bases in the region. Rather, Trump explained, he could see how the nuclear talks were going, and that his instincts told him it was time to act. "You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack. If we didn't do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that," Trump said, taking reporters' questions while seated beside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump insisted Israel did not drag the U.S. into war, that it was likely the other way around. "I think they were going to attack first, and I didn't want that to happen. So if anything, I might've forced Israel's hand. But Israel was ready and we were ready." After briefing lawmakers on Capitol Hill late yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also dropped his Monday argument that the U.S. had to attack because Israel was going to with or without the U.S. and that American forces in the region would have been the target of Iranian retaliation. "Let me explain to you guys this in simple English, okay? Iran is run by lunatics — religious fanatic lunatics. They have an ambition to have nuclear weapons. They intend to develop those nuclear weapons behind a program of missiles and drones and terrorism that the world will not be able to touch them for fear of those things," Rubio told reporters, clarifying that Operation Epic Fury was always about eliminating Iran's future nuclear capability once and for all. "This is the weakest they've ever been. Now was the time to go after them," Rubio said. "The President made the decision to go after them, take away their missiles, take away their navy, take away their drones, take away their ability to make those things, so that they can never have a nuclear weapon. That's why the President made this decision. It was the right decision, and the world will be a safer place when these radical clerics no longer have access to these weapons." ISRAEL FIRST? MAGA DIVIDE ERUPTS OVER ALLEGATIONS NETANYAHU PUSHED US INTO IRAN CONFLICT THE 'DELCY' DILEMMA: Trump was clearly also influenced by the spectacular success of the Venezuela operation in January, and now believes the U.S. military can do almost anything. "Our military's the number one in the world by far," he gushed. "In my book, Venezuela was big, this is big." Trump campaigned on the promise to keep America out of endless forever wars, and Venezuela has provided him a template for his preferred style of warfare — massive shock and awe, but without the ground troops and follow-on years of nation-building. Instead Trump revealed he had hoped to pull off another Delcy Rodriguez-style soft regime change — find a corrupt but compliant successor to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — who's willing to do Trump's bidding to stay in power. The only problem is Israel has taken out everyone on the CIA's short list. "The people we had in mind are dead … and now we have another group," Trump said. "They may be dead also, based on reports. So I guess you'll have a third wave coming in. Pretty soon, we're not going to know anybody." Exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, son of the late Shah, is the Maria Corina Machado in this scenario. Nice guy, but without support from what's left of the regime. "Some people like him," Trump said, but quickly added. "It would seem to me that somebody from within might, maybe would be more appropriate." Currently it seems that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah is the most likely to take over the country, that is if Israel doesn't kill him too. The key, according to Trump, is to avoid the mistakes the U.S. made in Iraq in disbanding the military and police and banning the Baathists from government posts. "If you look at Iraq, where very stupidly everybody was fired — the generals were fired, the military was fired, the police were fired, the fire departments were fired, and all of the government workers were fired," Trump said. His model for avoiding getting sucked into a quagmire is Venezuela, where you keep the corrupt, anti-democratic government intact. "Venezuela was so incredible," Trump said. "We have Delcy, who's been very good, we have the whole chain of command, and they've been — you know, look, the relationship's been great." IRAN'S ASSEMBLY OF EXPERTS BOMBED DURING ELECTION TO DECIDE NEXT SUPREME LEADER THE WORSE CASE SCENARIO: Trump would like to see regime change in Iran, but isn't willing to force the issue. Asked what the worst case outcome might be, Trump again, was very forthcoming about how things could end up. "I guess the worst case would be we do this and then somebody takes over who's as bad as the previous person, right? That could happen. We don't want that to happen. That would probably be the worst. You go through this and then in five years you realize you've put somebody in who was no better," Trump ruminated. "We'd like to see somebody in there that's going to bring it back for the people. And we'll see what happens with the people. You know, they have their chance." "As I understand it right now, is that we're going to engage in four to five weeks of an air attack and bombing and missiles. Four to five weeks. I think their hope is that by doing that and by hitting a lot of targets, that somehow that will weaken the regime and perhaps bring the regime down," former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta said on CNN. "This is all a roll of the dice," Panetta said. "And what I worry about as we go through four or five weeks of bombing, and at the end of that, the regime is still in place and nothing changes, then we have to ask ourselves, 'why the hell did we do this?'" Well, it would seem it really was about ending Iran's nuclear ambitions, not bringing freedom to the Iraqi people. But as Trump often says, "we'll see what happens." TRUMP DISMISSES CONCERNS OF DIMINISHED US STOCKPILES IN WAKE OF OPERATION EPIC FURY Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre's Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn't work, shoot us an email and we'll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE HAPPENING TODAY: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine are back this morning for an encore performance in the Pentagon's lightly-used briefing room. The on-camera press briefing is set for 8 a.m. EST, and will be streamed live by the Pentagon on its website. PENTAGON IDENTIFIES FOUR US TROOPS KILLED IN IRAN CONFLICT CENTCOM SPEAKS: Meanwhile the U.S. Central Command, which is running Operation Epic Fury, has been furiously posting videos showing the mastery U.S. forces are displaying against the hapless Iranians. "The Iranian regime is using mobile launchers to indiscriminately fire missiles in an attempt to inflict maximum harm across the region. U.S. forces are hunting these threats down and without apology or hesitation, we are taking them out," says one video. "U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers are delivering unrelenting, overwhelming firepower from regional waters. DAY and NIGHT," says another. "The Iranian regime's killer drones have been a menace in the Middle East for years. These drones are no longer a tolerable risk," says a third. And late yesterday Adm. Brad Cooper, the four-star commander of Operation Epic Fury recorded a five-minute operational update which was posted on X. "More than 50,000 troops, 200 fighters, two aircraft carriers and bombers from the United States are participating in this operation, and more capability is on the way," Cooper said. "These forces bring a massive amount of firepower representing the largest buildup by the US in the Middle East in a generation." Cooper described the opening hours as double the scale of the "shock and awe" campaign of the 2003 Iraq war, and said the U.S. and Israel "delivered overwhelming and unprecedented strikes into Iran." The U.S. strikes from land and navy ships is an around the clock operation, Cooper said, and is continuing a high tempo. "We've already struck nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions. We have severely degraded Iran's air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iran's ballistic missiles launchers and drones." "In simple terms we're focused on shooting all the things that can shoot at us," Cooper said. "Our B-2 bombers and B-1 bombers have executed uncontested surgical strikes against multiple missile facilities deep inside Iran." "We are also sinking the Iranian navy, the entire navy," He said. "Thus far we've destroyed 17 Iranian ships including the most operational Iranian submarine that now has a hole in its side." THE US CONFLICT IN IRAN BY THE NUMBERS PENTAGON DISPUTES REPORTS US KIA WERE UNPROTECED: The Pentagon's chief spokesman is disputing media accounts from CNN and CBS that the U.S. Army troops, who were killed by an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait, were in a makeshift office space that lacked adequate hardening and had no counter-drone defenses. Three U.S. military officials told CBS News that the "fortified" operations center was 'a triple-wide trailer made into an office space," and that the only fortifications were "T-walls, which are steel-reinforced concrete barriers that can range in height from 6 to 12 feet tall, used to protect military personnel from explosions, rocket attacks and shrapnel." "The attack came quickly and with no warning or sirens to alert troops to evacuate or get into a bunker," a source told CNN. "The building had concrete barriers surrounding it, the source said … but nothing that could shield it from drones or missiles." "This 'reporting' from CBS is not true," Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted on X. "A Tactical Operations Center is not a 'makeshift office space.' The secure facility was fortified with 6-foot walls." "T-walls could not protect the facility from an overhead strike," two officials told CBS News, adding that the strike "appeared to hit dead-center on top of the building." "We have the most extensive Air Defense umbrella in the world over the Middle East right now and control of the skies is increasing with every wave of airpower," Parnell said. "Every possible measure has been taken to safeguard our troops — at every level. The Department is prepared for this engagement and has hardened our defenses. We've moved a significant number of our troops off the X and will always protect our bases and people from a significantly weakened Iran." COUNTER-DRONE DEFENSE IN THE SPOTLIGHT AFTER DEATHS OF US SERVICE MEMBERS IN KUWAIT RETIRED COMMANDERS ENDORSE TRUMP'S WAR: Any time there is a debate about the wisdom of going to war, you can expect a number of retired generals and admirals to weigh in, often in the form of an open letter. But the letter released yesterday by 73 retired U.S. generals and admirals is remarkable for the number of highly experienced and respected four-stars who have endorsed the military action against Iran without reservation. "As retired senior American military leaders, we support the joint U.S.-Israeli military action to degrade and weaken the Iranian regime's ability to threaten the United States, our allies and partners, and the Iranian people," the letter states. "And we commend the valor of the outstanding United States Military and our Intelligence Community engaged in this operation." The signatories include: - Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, vice chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Adm. Jerome Johnson, Vice Chief of Naval Operations
- Gen W.L. Nyland, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
- Gen Philip Breedlove, Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Commander, U.S. European Command
- Adm. Timothy Keating, commander, U.S. Pacific Command
- Gen. James Thurman, commander, United Nations Command, ROK-United States Combined Forces Command, and U.S. Forces Korea
- Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of U.S. Africa Command
- Gen Mike Hostage, commander, Air Combat Command
- Gen Charles Wald, deputy commander of U.S. European Command
"Hundreds of Americans have lost their lives at the hands of the Islamic Republic and its terrorist proxies. Leaders in Tehran openly state their ambitions to spill American blood, evict the United States from the Middle East, eliminate Israel, and dominate a region that remains vital to global stability," the senior officers write."And it has persisted in its nuclear weapons pursuit, despite being offered every offramp possible." "For all these reasons, it is noteworthy that the United States is working so closely with Israel and other regional partners. Such cooperation is vital to degrade and eliminate the regime's arsenals, undermine its organs of oppression, and signal unmistakably that it cannot continue threatening not only core U.S. interests, but the broader security and prosperity of the Middle East and its own population." STATE DEPARTMENT DEPLOYING MILITARY AIRCRAFT TO EVACUATE US CITIZENS FROM MIDDLE EAST ONE MORE THING: WE JUST JOINED ANOTHER WAR: While the world is focused on the Middle East, the U.S. Southern Command announced another military action in our own hemisphere. "On March 3, Ecuadorian and U.S. military forces launched operations against Designated Terrorist Organizations in Ecuador," SOUTHCOM posted on X, along with video showing soldiers loading into helicopters. "The operations are a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism," the post said. "Together, we are taking decisive action to confront narco-terrorists who have long inflicted terror, violence, and corruption on citizens throughout the hemisphere." U.S. Southern Commander Gen. Francis Donovan commended the Ecuadorian armed forces for "demonstrating courage and resolve through continued actions against narco-terrorists in their country." LINDSEY GRAHAM ALREADY MOVES ON FROM IRAN, WARNS 'CUBA IS NEXT' THE RUNDOWN: Washington Examiner: The US conflict in Iran by the numbers Washington Examiner: Lawmakers grill top Pentagon policy official on how Iran war fits national security strategy Washington Examiner: Trump dismisses concerns of diminished US stockpiles in wake of Operation Epic Fury Washington Examiner: Counter-drone defense in the spotlight after deaths of US service members in Kuwait Washington Examiner: Pentagon identifies four US troops killed in Iran conflict Washington Examiner: Lindsey Graham already moves on from Iran, warns 'Cuba is next' Washington Examiner: State Department deploying military aircraft to evacuate US citizens from Middle East Washington Examiner: Iran's Assembly of Experts bombed during election to decide next supreme leader Washington Examiner: Starmer fires back at Trump over Iran 'unlawful action' Washington Examiner: Opinion: Trump's supercilious character doesn't excuse Starmer's strategic constipation Washington Examiner: Senate Democrat 'more fearful than ever' of US troop deployment to Iran after briefing Washington Examiner: Israel First? MAGA divide erupts over allegations Netanyahu pushed US into Iran conflict Washington Examiner: Iran retaliation fears fail to move Democrats on DHS shutdown Washington Examiner: Senate Republicans berate Kristi Noem over DHS leadership AP: Israel Steps Up Airstrikes in Tehran, as Iran Widens Its Response Across the Region New York Times: US Opens Military Action in Ecuador Against 'Terrorist Organizations' Wall Street Journal: Trump says U.S. could escort tankers through Strait of Hormuz The War Zone: More US Fighter Aircraft Heading to Middle East Breaking Defense: How Tanking, Airlift Could Be Strained by Iran Ops CBS News: Military Questioned Use of Makeshift Office Space in Kuwait Where US Troops Were Killed The Atlantic: The One Variable that Could Decide the War Reuters: Trump says US will cut all trade with Spain over military bases, defence spending Axios: Trump Claims America Can Fight 'Forever,' but Munitions Are Limited Roll Call: Iran War Triggers Talk of Supplemental Defense Funding Air & Space Forces Magazine: Kuwaiti F/A-18 Aircraft Suspected of Shooting Down US F-15s Air & Space Forces Magazine: Bombers Need Wider Range of Weapons: Panel Defense Scoop: Commercial Data Centers Emerge as Targets in Modern Warfare After Drones Hit 3 AWS Facilities Aviation Week: Hermeus Flies Mk.2.1 Supersonic Demonstrator Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force Officials Preparing for More Budget Growth in 2027 Air & Space Forces Magazine: Promotion Rate for Senior Master Sergeant Dips for First Time in Five Years THE CALENDAR: WEDNESDAY | MARCH 4 9:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: North Korea's Ninth Party Congress: What Happened?" with Lami Kim, Korea chair in advanced technologies, national security and defense at the International Institute for Strategic Studies; Sydney Seller, CSIS non-resident senior adviser and CSIS Korea chair; Ramon Pacheco Pardo, CSIS non-resident adjunct fellow and CSIS Korea chair; and Mark Lippert, CSIS non-resident senior adviser and Korea chair https://www.csis.org/events/north-koreas-ninth-party-congress 9:30 a.m. — Middle East Institute virtual discussion: "Fight or Flight? The Gulf States Weigh their Options," with Daniel Benaim, former deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Peninsula Affairs and former special assistant to the president; F. Gregory Gause, associate fellow, Middle East Institute and professor emeritus at Texas A&M University Bush School of Government and Public Service; and Ken Pollack, MEI vice president for policy https://mei.edu/events/fight-or-flight-the-gulf-states-weigh-their-options/ 10 a.m. 2141 Rayburn — House Judiciary Committee hearing: "Oversight of the Department of Homeland Security," with testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem http://judiciary.house.gov 10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: "Speed to Scale: Revitalizing the Defense Industrial Base," with testimony from Michael Duffey, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment https://armedservices.house.gov/calendar/ 10 a.m. 2154 Rayburn — House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing: "Oversight of Fraud and Misuse of Federal Funds in Minnesota: Part II," with testimony from Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) http://oversight.house.gov 10 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: "A Strategic Response to Sino-Russian Cooperation: Perspectives from Europe and the Indo-Pacific," with Nishank Motwani, Australian Strategic Policy Institute strategic fellow; Justyna Szczudlik, deputy head of research at the Polish Institute of International Affairs; and Patrick Cronin, Hudson Institute Asia-Pacific security chair https://www.hudson.org/events/strategic-response-sino-russian-cooperation 10:30 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE — Heritage Foundation discussion: "Restoring Peace Through Strength: The 2026 Index of U.S. Military Strength," Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN), Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX); Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) Robert Greenway, director, Heritage Center for National Security; Dan Green, research fellow, Heritage Center for National Security; and Victoria Coates, vice president of the Heritage Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute https://www.heritage.org/defense/event/restoring-peace-through-strength 12 p.m. — New America virtual discussion: "When Nuclear Danger Becomes Background Noise," with W.J. Hennigan, New York Times reporter; and Amy Nelson, director, New America Future Security Scenarios Lab https://www.newamerica.org/future-security/events 12 p.m. — Foundation for Defense of Democracies virtual discussion: "Surveying Foreign Influence in AI Tools," with retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior director, FDD Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation; Joseph Bodnar, FDD senior research manager at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue; Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of George Mason University's National Security Institute; and Leah Siskind, FDD's director of impact https://www.fdd.org/events/2026/03/04/surveying-foreign-influence-in-ai-tools/ 12:30 p.m. 1777 F St. NW — Council on Foreign Relations discussion: "U.S. National Defense Strategy under the Trump administration," with Elbridge Colby, undersecretary of defense for policy https://link.cfr.org/click/ 2 p.m — Center for American Progress virtual discussion: "What's Next in the Fight Between the Department Of Defense and Anthropic," with Kat Duffy, senior fellow for digital and cyberspace policy at the Council on Foreign Relations; Frank Kendall, CAP senior fellow; and Adam Conner, CAP vice president of technology policy https://rsvp2.americanprogress.org/whatsnextinthewarbetweenthetru 2 p.m. Government Executive Media Group virtual discussion: "Edge AI in the Fleet: Speed, Resilience, and Trust for Mission Success," with Capt. Jeremiah Daley, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for robotic and autonomous systems; Navy CTO Justin Fanelli; Lt. Artem Sherbinin, CTO of the Surface Navy Forces Command; Tommy Gardner, CTO of HP Federal; and Courtney O'Neal Allen, producer of GovExec TV https://events.govexec.com/edge-ai-in-fleet 2:30 p.m. 216 Hart — Senate Armed Services Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee hearing: "The Current Readiness of the Joint Force," with testimony from Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve; Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby; Assistant Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Bradford Gering; Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John Lamontagne; Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Shawn Bratton; and Diana Maurer, director of defense capabilities and management at the Government Accountability Office https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings 2:30 p.m. 2247 Russell — Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe hearing: "Responding to China's Infiltration and Coercion in Europe," with Vidmantas Verbickas, Lithuanian vice minister of foreign affairs; Audrye Wong, nonresident senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute; and Valbona Zenell, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council 3:30 p.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee hearing: "Energy, Installations, and Environment Update," with testimony from Dale Marks, assistant secretary of defense for energy, installations, and environment; Jordan Gillis, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy, and environment; Brendan Rogers, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations, and environment; and Michael Borders, assistant secretary of the Air Force for energy, installations, and environment http://www.armedservices.house.gov 5 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: "Securing America's Critical Mineral Supply Chain," with Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) https://www.hudson.org/events/securing-americas-critical-mineral-supply-chain THURSDAY | MARCH 5 9:30 a.m. 1400 L Street NW — Atlantic Council discussion: "Navigating a new era in Syria: Strategic opportunities for the US and Turkey," with former Turkish Ambassador to Syria Omer Onhon, director, Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey's Center for the Eurasian Security and Cooperation; Anas Algaed, director of programs at the Gulf International Forum; and Defne Arslan, senior director, Atlantic Council's Turkey Program https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/navigating-a-new-era-in-syria 10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: "U.S. Defense Strategy and Posture and the National Defense Strategy," with testimony from Elbridge Colby, undersecretary of defense for policy https://armedservices.house.gov/calendar 10 a.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: "Advancing National Security through Public Diplomacy," with testimony from Sarah Rogers, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy http://foreignaffairs.house.gov 11:15 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Defense and Security Department webcast: "Epic Fury: The Campaign Against Iran's Missile & Nuclear Infrastructure," with CSIS experts Heather Williams, director and senior fellow, CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues; Tom Karako, director and senior fellow, CSIS Missile Defense Project; and Kari Bingen, director and senior fellow, CSIS Aerospace Security Project https://www.csis.org/events/epic-fury-campaign 12 p.m. — Association of the U.S. Army "Noon Report" webinar: "AI at the Core: Advancing Army Cyber Priorities," with Brandon Pugh, principal cyber adviser, Department of the Army, and Lt. Gen. Jeth Rey, deputy Army chief of staff for command, control, communications, cyber operations and networks https://www.ausa.org/events/noon-report/ai-at-the-core 5 p.m. 1521 16th St. NW — Institute of World Politics discussion: "Private Military Contractors: Understanding the Non-State Actors Changing the Institution of War," with Caroline Batka, senior military analyst, Comenius University https://www.iwp.edu/private-military-contractors FRIDAY | MARCH 6 11 a.m. 1957 E Street NW — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs discussion: "The current state of U.S.-China bilateral relations, the challenges of strategic competition, and the future of ties between Washington and Beijing," with former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/distinguished-speaker-series QUOTE OF THE DAY: "In a historic first the U.S. Army fired long-range precision we attack drones achieving massive effects. I'd like to point out these drones were originally an Iranian design. We took them back to America, made them better, and fired them right back at Iran." Adm. Brad Cooper, U.S. Central Commander and leader of Operation Epic Fury, in a post on X. | 
Comments
Post a Comment