3 Takeaways From The U.S. Bombing Of Iran’s Nuclear Sites

It was a powerful deterrent to the ‘CRINK’ alliance; talk of America’s decline is merely wishful thinking; and leadership matters.

Photo by Irham Setyaki on Unsplash

This piece was first published in The Federalist.com. Please click the ❤️ or the share 🔄 button so more people will read it. Thank you!

Saturday’s Operation Midnight Hammer, bombing Iran’s three most significant nuclear sites, proves that all the talk of America’s decline is merely wishful thinking from our adversaries. Just days before the bombing, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, proclaimed that the U.S. is on a path of “inevitable” decline, similar to other fallen empires throughout history. This same narrative — that “the East is rising while the West is declining” — has been propagated by Xi since 2020. Yet, the bombing of Iran demonstrates that America is far from declining.

The United States stands unrivaled in its ability to deploy deep-penetrating bombs. Vice President J.D. Vance highlighted this extraordinary capability by sharing that the U.S. main strike force, consisting of seven B-2 Spirit bombers, undertook an impressive 18-hour mission to target areas in Iran. During this mission, these B-2 bombers “dropped 30,000-pound bombs on a target the size of a washing machine and then got back home safely without ever landing in the Middle East or ever stopping other than to briefly refuel,” which they did in the air. Satellite images later confirmed Vance’s statement.

Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, revealed in a Sunday press conference that the operation used more than 125 aircraft in the mission, including multiple fourth- and fifth-generation fighters, dozens of air refueling tankers, a guided missile submarine and “a full array” of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft. This unparalleled military operation showcases capabilities that no other nation can currently achieve. China’s Xi must be taken aback and disheartened, as his narrative of America’s decline has been proven utterly false.

Second Takeaway: Leadership Matters

The second key takeaway is that leadership matters. Since 1995, four U.S. presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden — have all vowed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. However, the first two presidents believed that imposing economic sanctions, alongside diplomatic efforts, would be enough to compel Iran to comply. The latter two attempted to incentivize the mullahs by lifting sanctions and releasing billions of dollars to the Iranian government. Furthermore, throughout this period, all four presidents dissuaded Israel from taking military action to halt Iran’s nuclear program. Unsurprisingly, under these U.S. leaders, Iran continued to make advances in its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Before the recent U.S. bombing last weekend, Iran was alarmingly close to achieving its goal. David Albright, president and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security, highlighted that Iran could “convert its current stock of 60 percent enriched uranium in three weeks at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) into enough weapon-grade uranium for 9 nuclear weapons, taken as 25 kg of weapon-grade uranium (WGU) per weapon. Iran could produce its first quantity of 25 kg of WGU in Fordow in as little as two to three days.”

George Kennan, a prominent Cold War diplomat, characterized the former Soviet Union as “impervious to the logic of reason” yet “highly sensitive to the logic of force.” Such an assessment applies to Iran as well.

In recent months, Trump attempted to convince Iran to abandon its nuclear ambition through negotiations. However, the Iranian government was defiant and unwilling to engage in negotiations in good faith.

Rather than allow Iran to stall him as it did with his predecessors, Trump took decisive military action. Although it may take time to accurately assess the results of Saturday’s bombing, Trump expressed confidence in his address to the nation Saturday night that “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been destroyed.”

Trump’s leadership is reflected not only in his ability to make such a monumental decision but also in how he has assembled a great team that worked together to achieve the maximum military surprise by deploying various deception tactics. For example, Trump reportedly already decided to bomb Iran last Wednesday, but he claimed a day later that he would make a decision “within two weeks,” probably to trick Iran’s mullahs into thinking he chickened out at the last minute and wouldn’t take any military action against them, at least not anytime soon.

On the day of action, the U.S. military, guided by this exceptional team, deployed B-2 bombers to the west as a decoy. This, as Caine described, was a “deception effort known only to an extremely small number of planners and key leaders.”

The Trump administration’s ability to maintain secrecy around this complex military operation is also remarkable, especially considering the Biden administration’s record of leaking classified Israeli war plans. These leaks not only undermined Israel’s ability to defend itself but also strained the relationship between Israel and the U.S., resulting in Israel’s reluctance to share its plans with the Biden administration.

In contrast, the Trump administration’s operational security was so effective that Jennifer Griffin, a long-time national security correspondent for Fox News, remarked, “In my 18 years at the Pentagon, I’ve never seen such operational security. There was nobody speaking about this… There was a complete lockdown, almost a blackout of information. There were no leaks.” This achievement is likely a testament to the leadership of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

No wonder retired Gen. Mark Kimmitt, who served as assistant secretary of State under George W. Bush, expressed both fascination and admiration for the Trump administration’s execution of Operation Midnight Hammer, particularly concerning their strategies of deception and secrecy, in an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN.

Third Takeaway: A Powerful Deterrent

The third crucial takeaway is that the bombing of Iran acts as a powerful deterrent to the “CRINK” alliance, comprising China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Geopolitics expert Sam Cooper, author of the Substack newsletter “The Bureau,” pointed out that Iran is pivotal within this alliance, as it “supplies drones to Russia, subsidizes oil to China, and provides weapons to terrorist groups that pose threats to U.S. bases and allies.” However, following Israeli and especially the U.S. military action against Iran, the other CRINK members did not rally to Iran’s defense.

The reluctance might indicate that the other CRINK nations are reassessing their strategies regarding the U.S. and their broader geopolitical goals. The weekend bombing of Iran demonstrated U.S. military dominance and a readiness to eliminate threats to American and allied security. It’s essential for the remaining CRINK members to recognize that when Trump extends an invitation for negotiation — whether on trade issues or resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict — they had better embrace the opportunity and engage in good faith. Failing to do so could lead to dire consequences for them in the future.

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