Operation Epic Fury Won’t Become ‘Forever War’—Goals Are Limited: Pentagon Official

Annihilating Iran’s capacity to launch missiles and drones beyond its borders is the Pentagon’s only goal for Operation Epic Fury, a senior administration official told the House Armed Services Committee during an often-fiery March 5 hearing on President Donald Trump’s revised National Security Strategy. The military is not focused on regime change or what happens in Iran once that objective is achieved, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby explained repeatedly during the nearly three-hour hearing. However, it is prepared to carry out administration directives in response to “a variety of political outcomes.” What those “political outcomes” will be and how the United States will attempt to influence events in Tehran in the wake of the Feb. 28 decapitation strike is for the president and Congress to determine, Colby said.  That strike killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and more than 40 Iranian regime leaders....