Bill Dalton: Epic failure

EDITOR'S NOTE: The views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not of Ottawa News Network.

Operation Epic Fury is turning into an epic failure.

Anyone surprised? With Pete Hegseth in command of the War Department after firing so many top generals, what could possibly go wrong?

Let’s recap a brief history of the War in Iran.

Within minutes of the bombing, Blunderer-in-Chief Donald J. Trump declared victory. “We’ve already won,” the president announced.

That was more than eight weeks ago. Despite achieving instantaneous victory, the war continues for some reason.

Then Hegseth announced, “we’re ahead of schedule.” What schedule, no one knows, except that it’s probably 5 o’clock somewhere for him. He also declared we’d destroyed virtually all of Iran’s missiles.

Unfortunately, a Pentagon general who knows what’s really going on, or won’t lie under oath, told Congress last week that Iran still has “thousands” of missiles on mobile launchers.

Nonetheless, Trump insisted it will all be over quickly, within a matter of weeks, a boast echoed by Secretary of Confusion Marco Rubio, who confirmed just a couple more weeks, any day now, probably, who knows?

Which brings us to today, with Iran still in control of the Strait of Hormuz and still clenching its enriched uranium, and Trump conceding there really is “no timetable,” despite what he’s been lying about for weeks. He also ominously mentioned how long the Vietnam War lasted.

Trump made one more unbelievable assertion. He said, even if this turns into another “forever war,” it would be worthwhile if it prevented Iran from nuking the United States.

Cue the "Twilight Zone" music. Can you recall anyone, anywhere, expressing fears that one day Iran might drop a nuclear anything on the United States? Didn’t think so.

The only folks legitimately concerned about getting nuked by Iran live in Israel — and they should be worried — especially when they’re led by another extremist named Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu knew that fighting on three fronts — Gaza, Lebanon and Iran — probably wasn’t a brilliant military strategy. He needed a U.S. president dumb enough to take on Iran while he mopped up Hamas and Hezbollah while also battling prostate cancer and corruption charges.

So, once again, we find ourselves stuck in a Middle East quagmire with no easy way out without suffering large numbers of American casualties.

Trump also keeps talking up those non-existent Iranian nukes, which sounds a lot like those non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, providing a convenient excuse to keep this war going. He also keeps sending ground troops to the Middle East, presumably more than 50,000 now.

Yet it's hard to believe all those Marines are just sitting around for weeks getting fat on some amphibious equipped aircraft. Or are they keeping fit on military bases scattered around the Middle East? Or are all these ground troops merely a bluff? Is it possible that Iranian intelligence suspects it's just another one of Trump's Big Lies and all Iran needs to do is “rope-a-dope” until the November elections?

They'd be dumb not to stall. The latest polls show 58 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance. They're not happy about gasoline prices, inflation, or that war we supposedly "won."Epic Fury is becoming an epic failure, much like Trump’s revenge presidency.

Is anyone really surprised?

— Bill Dalton is a former reporter and editor for The Kansas City Star and worked for several Michigan newspapers. He spends summers on the family farm near Fennville. His new novel “The Bank Game” — a crime thriller — is available on Amazon.

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