Officials deploy largest air armada since 1991 while insisting the correct terminology is ‘sustained kinetic engagement’
The Department of Defense confirmed Saturday that Operation Epic Fury Pentagon planners had assembled what multiple analysts described as the most powerful concentration of airpower since World War II to conduct what officials insisted was “a sustained kinetic engagement” and “absolutely not a war.”
“War is a specific legal designation with specific legal requirements,” a senior defense official said. “What we are conducting involves two aircraft carrier strike groups, approximately 250 combined aircraft, thirteen Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, multiple Ohio-class submarines, and a stated goal of overthrowing a foreign government. These are kinetic actions.”
Force Posture Described as ‘Robust But Not Warlike’
The strike force includes USS Gerald Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln, the two most powerful aircraft carriers ever built, along with more than 100 Air Force aircraft including F-22s and F-35s. Israeli air assets participated simultaneously in what defense officials described as “the largest coordinated multinational kinetic event of the 21st century that is not a war.”
Strikes hit targets across Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Kermanshah, and Karaj, including the Iranian presidential palace, National Security Council, Ministry of Intelligence, and Ministry of Defense. The Department of Defense noted that these were military targets in a military operation that was not, officials stressed, a military war.
“The targets were carefully selected to degrade the regime’s command and control architecture,” the official said. “The fact that this included the supreme leader’s residential compound reflects the comprehensive nature of our not-war.”
Regime Change Reclassified as ‘Governance Transition Facilitation’
President Trump announced the goal of the operation was to overthrow the Iranian government, telling the Iranian people to “take over your government” once strikes conclude. Pentagon officials subsequently clarified that “regime change” was not the preferred terminology.
“The objective is governance transition facilitation through degradation of hostile leadership nodes,” a Pentagon spokesperson said. “Regime change implies a ground component. We are conducting an air and sea campaign to create the conditions under which a regime may change on its own, which is different.”
Asked whether offering “total immunity” to Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces constituted a surrender demand, officials noted that the offer was “forward-looking” given that the air campaign included no ground forces capable of accepting a surrender. The immunity, they said, was “available for when the appropriate acceptance infrastructure is identified.”
Congressional Authorization Described as ‘Concurrent’
The top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee was not briefed before the strikes began. A bipartisan war powers resolution had been scheduled for a vote next week. Pentagon officials said the timing was “unfortunate but operationally irrelevant.”
“Congressional notification is a process, and the process is underway,” the spokesperson said. “Members of Congress were notified at the same time as the American public, which we believe reflects a commitment to transparency.”
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had privately warned the President that American service members could be killed in the operation. The President acknowledged this in his 2:30 AM Truth Social video, noting “we may have casualties,” which the Pentagon classified as a “proactive force protection communication.”
Iran launched retaliatory ballistic missiles at Israel within hours. The Pentagon said the retaliation was “anticipated and within planning parameters,” adding that it demonstrated “the kinetic nature of the engagement environment, which remains distinct from war.”
Developing.
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