In these early days of Operation Epic Fury, while much remains unknown, one thing has become clear: how little the conventional wisdom about foreign policy in Washington, D.C., has to do with the realities taking shape on the battlefield. Traditionally, four things were assumed to be near inevitable if the United States and/or Israel were to take significant military action against Iran:
- Iran’s ...
The strongest version of this narrative presents Operation Epic Fury as a paradigm-shifting military campaign that dismantles decades of foreign policy orthodoxy. It credits the operation with achieving what was previously deemed impossible: neutralizing Iran’s leadership, isolating its proxies, and unifying regional actors against Tehran—all while avoiding the quagmire of nation-building. The piece frames this as a vindication of Trump’s "peace through strength" doctrine, contrasting it with th...