Historian Victor Davis Hanson predicted the Iranian regime could “fall pretty soon” as President Donald Trump’s air campaign continues in the Middle East.
Appearing on “Hannity” Thursday, Hanson argued the president’s strategy in the Middle East is working. He pointed to what he described as a shift in global momentum, three weeks into the joint U.S. and Israeli mission, Operation Epic Fury.
“If Trump sees it through, and I think he will, I think they’re [going to] fall pretty soon, in two, three, four weeks,” said Hanson, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, of Iran.
“And I think they know it. And I think the Europeans know it. And I think the Middle East knows it,” he added.
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Hanson argued Trump is avoiding what he described as the mistakes of past administrations in Iraq and Afghanistan by refusing to deploy massive numbers of troops. Instead, he said, the U.S. is using precision intelligence, advanced technology and aerial firepower to achieve its goals.
“We’re not [going to] put people in a Fallujah-like context where they’re going door-to-door against jihadists,” said Hanson.
“We’re [going to] play to our strength — which is intelligence, technology, firepower — and we’re going to do it in a new way with enhanced drones and satellite reconnaissance, so we know the individual names of individual commanders.”
While U.S. drone strikes have targeted top Iranian officials, the strategy is expanding. Three more warships and roughly 2,500 Marines are being deployed to the Middle East to address Iran’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Disruptions in the strait have already sent oil prices surging.
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Trump has posted about his disappointment with allies for not taking a wider role in reopening the vital waterway. The United Kingdom said the U.S. military can use U.K. bases to launch strikes against Iranian missile sites targeting ships in the strait.
“Europeans would never agree to go anywhere near Iran unless they thought the tide was turning and they think that we’re [going to] win,” added Hanson.
The operation began with strikes that resulted in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Feb. 28. Last week Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, released a statement vowing the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the war ends and demanding that U.S. military bases be removed from the region.
