"When I went to bed on Friday night, a lot of us were anticipating that there might be military action perhaps the next evening. So it happened a little bit earlier than we expected. They put more forces in the region than we've seen any time since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003."
"Describing the attack as the maximalist option, Shane also told me he and his colleagues couldn't anticipate the scale of the United States' and Israel's attack on Iran over the weekend."
President Trump announced major combat operations between the United States and Israel against Iran early Saturday morning. National security reporters had anticipated military action, observing significant military buildup in the Gulf region exceeding levels since 2003. The attack represented a maximalist option, though the full scale remained difficult to anticipate. This escalation followed Trump's previous actions, including the killing of Qassem Soleimani in his first term. Discussions between Iran and the U.S. in Geneva had dissolved. The operation's definition of success remained unclear and opaque to observers.
#us-iran-military-conflict #middle-east-military-operations #trump-administration-foreign-policy #national-security-analysis
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