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By Max Frost
Early Saturday, outlets reported that American B-2 stealth bombers were flying from their base in Missouri toward the Pacific.
As Reuters headlined: “B-2 bombers moving to Guam amid Middle East tensions, US officials say.”
Yet that was a decoy: The real mission had begun hours prior, when seven different B-2s had taken off in stealth mode and flown directly toward Iran. After 18 hours, they released their payloads, including 14 bunker-busting bombs, on Iran’s nuclear sites.
Their mission within Iran took just 25 minutes, and US officials touted the success: “We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran…A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow,” posted President Trump.
“The scope and scale of what occurred . . . would take the breath away of almost any American if you had an opportunity to watch it in real time,” said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “Tehran is certainly calculating the reality that planes flew from the middle of America…completely undetected over three of their most highly sensitive sites and we were able to destroy nuclear capabilities.”
But what will happen next?
Mission Success?
The first unknown is whether the US actually destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Trump said Iran’s nuclear sites were “totally obliterated,” while the Pentagon said the sites suffered “extremely severe damage.” Defense officials said they believe they achieved the “destruction of capabilities” at Fordow, the most secure enrichment site. Yet Fordow is hundreds of feet underground, making the damage impossible to discern from the outside, besides indications of where missiles penetrated and surface-level damage. Intelligence officials have said that understanding the exact damage at Fordow and other sites could take weeks.
Even if the US destroyed the three main nuclear sites…
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Editor’s Note
What do you think about Trump’s decision to bomb Iran?
And two more questions:
For those who support the move: What do you say to those who believe Trump opened Pandora’s Box?
And for those who oppose it: What do you say to those who believe Iran’s theocratic regime could not be allowed to get a nuclear weapon?
Let us know by replying to this email. We look forward to sharing your replies.
If you missed our past five stories, find them below.
See you tomorrow.
–Max and Max
