Three Ways Operation Epic Fury Ends, And Why They All Leave the US Better Off

Townhall 

Victor Davis Hanson, a military historian, classicist, and senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, revealed the three outcomes he sees coming out of Operation Epic Fury, all of which he argued leave the United States in a better position than when it started.

"There's three possible outcomes in our view, and they're all better than the pre-war one," Hanson said. 

"The first is that we did so much damage to the military and discredited it. There's a popular revolt. I'm not sure that's going to happen," he said, "But it could. The second is the Venezuela situation where somebody emerges that we're not really in favor of, but they're going to put a lid on the theocracy and work with the West."

As of now, those outcomes seem unlikely. While President Trump has called on the Iranian people to rise up and take control of their government, so far the response has been limited to street celebrations, as many Iranians are still reeling from the mass slaughter the regime carried out during previous uprisings. The prospect of a government figure emerging who is more aligned, or at least subservient, to the West remains uncertain, especially after the Iranian regime named Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, as the new Ayatollah, a decision President Trump opposes. Whether he will be removed or replaced in the future is still an open question.

Hanson went on:

And the third is you're just going to do so much damage to the command and control and the military infrastructure that you just let them stew in their own juice. And then you say to the Iranian people, these people did this to you and we're here to help sometime, but go to it. And whatever happens will be better than having them close to a nuclear weapon and with all the assets they had. So we're in a good position.

Ideally, this operation concludes with one of the first two outcomes, which have the potential to reshape policy in the Middle East. Western-aligned countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, would emerge as regional powers, keeping their neighbors in check and fostering peaceful coexistence and trade in a more Western-aligned framework.