Secretary of State has announced Operation Epic Fury is over.
• Status of war: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Operation Epic Fury — launched in February against Iran — has ended, and the US is focused on a new operation to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump has not ruled out resuming a bombing campaign if necessary. [CNN]
Well, maybe. The Administration seems confused:
• Ceasefire ongoing: US military action during the ceasefire is a “defensive operation,” Rubio said. Earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said “the ceasefire is not over,” and Trump also did not specify what would constitute a ceasefire violation.
• In the Strait of Hormuz: Iran launched a new system to govern maritime traffic through the critical waterway, according to state-run media. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also issued a renewed warning to ships intending to transit the strait.
Wars typically cease when one side surrenders to the other, gets rubbed out, the attackers are driven off, or other similar resolution. That hasn’t really happened here, yet, has it? Especially in view of this:
• In the Strait of Hormuz: Iran launched a new system to govern maritime traffic through the critical waterway, according to state-run media. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also issued a renewed warning to ships intending to transit the strait.
Uh huh. Sorting out who’s controlling the Strait of Hormuz will not constitute the end of the war.
My guess is that we’ll withdraw, with Trump tootling his cracked horn about how he won the war and who needs a conditional surrender, anyways, even if he did demand it at the start? Another loss for him, in reality, but a lot of people will tootle with him, because, hey, it’s the only way for them to retain their new-found status.
Meanwhile:
• Economic impact: Demand for oil is falling at the fastest rate seen outside the Covid pandemic, as businesses and consumers cut consumption. US gas prices have increased by 50% since the start of the war.
My Arts Editor was just remarking yesterday that it’d be awfully funny if Trump’s War put an existential hole in the side of Trump’s much-coddled fossil fuel industry supporters. The news has been reporting big jumps in electric vehicle (EV) purchases, although not big enough to really matter.
If I still had a connection to the conservative mailbag, I’d be expecting anti-EV missives to be arriving at any moment. Unfortunately, my connection seems to have passed away.
