Trump's Peace Brand Meets Operation Epic Fury - Mahomet Daily

President Donald Trump, chairman of the Board of Peace, bombed the 8th country in just over a year Saturday when the United States joined Israel in bombing Iran, striking targets across the country in a campaign the White House says is aimed at regime change and dismantling Tehran’s military and nuclear capabilities.

During the 2024 campaign, Trump and his allies repeatedly framed Kamala Harris as a candidate who would lead the U.S. into major new wars, especially a broader confrontation they described as “World War III,” while casting himself as the one who would keep America out of new conflicts.

Trump warned that if Harris won, the United States would “get into a World War III,” sending American “sons and daughters” to fight overseas. He claimed that he would start “no new wars.”

But in Saturday’s announcement, Trump said, “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war, but we’re doing this not for now.”

As a result of Iranian retaliation over the weekend, three American troops died, and five others were injured.

The Trump administration, which has repeatedly claimed that U.S. strikes in June 2025 “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, framed the latest Iran operation as a preemptive move to eliminate what it calls imminent threats. In a taped statement announcing the new attacks, Trump said, “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime,” even as critics noted that U.S. officials have offered limited public evidence of such threats.

Over a decade ago, Trump took to Twitter to claim President Barack Obama would attack Iran as a distraction as election season loomed.

• Nov 2011: “In order to get elected, @BarackObama will start a war with Iran.”
• Nov 2011: “@BarackObama will attack Iran in the not too distant future because it will help him win the election.”
• Nov 2011 via video: “Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate. He’s weak and he’s ineffective. So the only way he figures that he’s going to get reelected — and as sure as you’re sitting there — is to start a war with Iran,”
• Apr 4, 2012: “Remember what I said about @BarackObama attacking Iran before the election—I hope the Iranians are not so stupid to let it happen—now is the time for them to negotiate—‘never overplay your hand.’”
• Jul 3, 2012: “Just as I predicted, @BarackObama is preparing a possible attack on Iran right before November” (referencing a report on U.S. adding forces in the Persian Gulf).
• Aug 16, 2012: “.@Israel could very well be close to attacking Iran. Could be this election’s big October surprise…”
• Aug 16, 2012 (same day): “I always said @BarackObama will attack Iran, in some form, prior to the election.”
• Oct 9, 2012: “Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.”
• Late Oct 2012: “Don’t let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in order to get elected—be careful Republicans!”

Barack Obama’s Iran policy centered on tightening sanctions to pressure Tehran and then negotiating the 2015 nuclear agreement (the JCPOA), which traded nuclear limits and inspections for relief from nuclear‑related sanctions. The deal required Iran to cut its enriched‑uranium stockpile by about 98 percent, cap enrichment at 3.67 percent, remove two‑thirds of its centrifuges, and redesign its Arak reactor, lengthening its estimated “breakout time” to at least about a year. Even after the JCPOA, his administration kept in place sanctions tied to terrorism, human‑rights abuses, and ballistic missiles, so the relationship with Iran remained adversarial rather than an alliance.

After Implementation Day in January 2016, the IAEA repeatedly reported that Iran was implementing its nuclear commitments: cutting stockpiles, limiting enrichment, and granting required access to inspectors.The IAEA continued to certify Iran’s compliance even after Trump announced the U.S. pullout in May 2018, but about a year later Iran began breaching JCPOA limits in stages—expanding its stockpile, enrichment level, and use of advanced centrifuges. By the early 2020s, reports showed Iran’s breakout time had fallen back to weeks.

Trump’s crusade to preemptively protect Americans, a girl’s primary school in Minab, southern Iran was bombed, killing at least 153 children, and injuring over 100.

UNESCO released the following statement: “The killing of pupils in a place dedicated to learning constitutes a grave violation of the protection afforded to schools under international humanitarian law.

Attacks against educational institutions endanger students and teachers and undermine the right to education. In accordance with its mandate and with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2601 (2021), UNESCO recalls the obligations of all parties to protect schools, students and education personnel.”

The campaign also focused on nuclear facilities, ballistic missile infrastructure, radar installations, and leadership compounds tied to Iran’s political and security apparatus. Iran’s Red Crescent has said that U.S.-Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 201 people and injured 747 across the country so far.

Iran’s missile and drone retaliation has also struck Israel, though on a smaller scale. Israeli authorities say at least one woman in Tel Aviv was killed and dozens wounded when Iranian ballistic missiles got through Israel’s air defenses, which have intercepted waves of missiles and drones.

Iran has hinted it could move to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which an estimated 20–30 percent of global oil and gas shipments pass. Iranian Revolutionary Guard units have already warned ships that the Strait is unsafe. Energy analysts warn could cause oil prices to spike sharply. Iran holds some of the world’s largest crude reserves and exports roughly 1.3–1.5 million barrels per day.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on February 28. Under Iran’s constitution, authority temporarily passes to a council made up of the president, the head of the judiciary, and a cleric chosen by the country’s top oversight body. In this crisis, that means moderate President Masoud Pezeshkian, hard-line judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and senior cleric Alireza Arafi now collectively wield the powers of the supreme leader until a successor is named.

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared that the regime had “prepared ourselves for these moments” and “planned for all scenarios.”

During his second term so far (Jan 20, 2025–Mar 1, 2026), Trump has authorized strikes in at least seven countries, plus international waters, with justifications ranging from counterterrorism and protection of shipping to halting Iran’s nuclear program and seeking regime change.

*Yemen *

When: March–May 2025

• Stated justification:
• Responding to Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab el‑Mandeb.
• Protecting U.S. and allied vessels, and defending Israel from missile and drone attacks launched from Yemen.

Somalia

When: beginning early 2025; a major rise in air and drone strikes across 2025

• Stated justification:
• Counterterrorism operations against jihadist groups linked to or inspired by al‑Qaeda and IS, framed as preventing attacks on U.S. interests and partners.

Iraq

When: During 2025

• Stated justification:
• Retaliation for attacks on U.S. personnel and bases in Iraq and Syria.
• Ongoing counter‑ISIS operations under existing authorizations for use of military force.

Syria

When: 2025

• Stated justification:
• Retaliation “to avenge the death” of three U.S. citizens killed in a terrorist attack in Syria by an IS gunman.
• Broader counter‑ISIS and force‑protection rationale for U.S. troops stationed in Syria.

Iran

When: June 22, 2025

• Stated justification:
• To “destabilize” or “set back” Iran’s nuclear program after the IAEA said Iran was violating its commitments and nearing weapons‑grade enrichment.
• Trump claimed Iran rejected diplomatic off‑ramps and continued nuclear and missile work that threatened U.S. allies and forces.

When: February 27–28, 2026

• Stated justification:
• Trump publicly framed it as eliminating Iran’s ballistic missile threat, halting nuclear ambitions, and giving Iranians a chance to overthrow their government (explicit regime‑change rhetoric).
• Also linked to Iranian attacks and plots against U.S. and allied targets in the region.

Nigeria

When: Strikes on December 25, 2025

• Stated justification:
• Trump described the operation as a “Christmas present” in response to “Christian persecution,” though Nigerian officials said it was a joint counterterrorism operation not tied to any religion.

Venezuela

When: Early January 2026

• Stated justification:
• Official framing emphasized stopping narco‑trafficking, protecting regional security, and responding to alleged attacks on U.S. assets and “drug boats” in the Caribbean.
• Critics and many analysts characterize it as a regime‑change operation to remove Maduro and reshape Venezuela’s government.

“International waters” and Red Sea / Caribbean

When: Throughout 2025

• Stated justification:
• Protecting commercial shipping, enforcing freedom of navigation, and interdicting drug traffickers threatening U.S. security.

ACLED (Armed Conflict Location and Event Data) estimates 573–626 U.S. air and drone strikes between Jan 20, 2025, and early Jan 2026, far above Biden’s yearly rate.