The Patriot Post® · Operation Epic Fury

By Gary Bauer ·
https://patriotpost.us/opinion/125575-operation-epic-fury-2026-03-03

Millions of Americans woke up Saturday morning to learn that President Trump had ordered a massive military operation to stop Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. If, as a result, a new government emerged that would liberate the Iranian people from the oppressive Shiite Islamist regime, that would be something we could all celebrate.
 
Within hours, news broke that our Israeli allies had eliminated Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. More than 40 top Iranian officials were sent to their graves in the opening minutes of Operation Epic Fury.
 
The decision to attack on Saturday came after intelligence reports revealed that Khamenei would be meeting with a number of senior regime officials. Khamenei’s son, considered a leading candidate to replace him as supreme leader, was also killed. So too was Iran’s former hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who threatened to wipe Israel “off the map.”
 
In his address announcing the launch of Operation Epic Fury, President Trump spoke directly to the Iranian people, urging them to take their country back and reclaim their freedom. The president said:
 
“To the great, proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand… When we are finished, take over your government…
 
"For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. So, let’s see how you respond.
 
"America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.”
 
This may be the most consequential decision of Donald Trump’s entire presidency. Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. This evil regime was furiously attempting to develop the world’s most dangerous weapons of mass destruction.
 
President Trump tried repeatedly last year and this year to negotiate a peaceful resolution to Iran’s nuclear weapons program. But the mullahs were never serious about giving up their nuclear ambitions—their means of wiping Israel off the map.
 
Without Tehran, there would be no Hamas in Gaza, no Hezbollah in Lebanon, and no Houthi rebels in Yemen. Without the apocalyptic Shiite vision of the Islamic Republic, much of the instability and strife in the Middle East would not exist.
 
President Trump is doing everything he can to make the chances of peace in the Middle East even greater by cutting off the head of the snake.
 
 
 
Sleeper Cells
 
The FBI announced Saturday afternoon that its counterterrorism and intelligence units were on high alert for potential retaliatory attacks inside the United States by Iranian sleeper cells. It appears that at least one terrorist attack has already taken place.
 
A Muslim immigrant from Senegal, who became a naturalized citizen ten years ago, opened fire at a popular Austin, Texas, bar early Sunday morning. Three people were killed, and a dozen more were wounded. Austin police responded in under a minute and killed the shooter.
 
The terrorist was wearing a sweatshirt that said “Property of Allah” and a shirt with the Iranian flag on it. Police found a Koran in his car at the scene of the attack. An Iranian flag and pictures of Iranian leaders were found in the killer’s apartment.
 
This is why Donald Trump has questioned the “wisdom” of importing large numbers of people from Muslim nations that are hotbeds of extremism and hatred. Disturbingly, many American mosques have also become hotbeds of extremism and hatred.
 
 
 
Democrat Delusions
 
The Democrat reaction to Operation Epic Fury was as delusional as it was predictable. Just as they defended Venezuela’s Marxist dictator, Nicolas Maduro, Democrats were furious that President Trump took out a regime that chanted “Death to America! Death to Israel!”
 
In fact, “Death to America!” was precisely the response from the campus radicals and Democrat voters at Columbia University.
 
With our men and women in harm’s way, many Democrats were doing everything they could to mislead the American people, sowing confusion and doubt any way they could on the Sunday talk shows.
 
Their left-wing base is crazy, and the only “reasonable” Democrat appears to be Sen. John Fetterman! The rest of them are running around like a bunch of little girly men. They are not a party that we can rely on to safely guide our country during a dangerous age.
 
Meanwhile, Democrats eagerly attack Trump for not getting the U.S. more involved in the war in Ukraine, potentially risking nuclear war with Russia. But when Trump takes decisive action against the regimes in Venezuela and Iran—major geopolitical allies and critical energy sources for China and Russia—the Democrats still attack Trump!
 
Democrats did nothing while Joe Biden allowed millions of illegal foreign nationals to enter our country, including two million “gotaways” we know absolutely nothing about. Now, with America more in danger internally because of that open border, Democrats are refusing to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
 
Put those two things together, and I don’t know how they get even 10% in the polls!
 
 
 
More Mamdani Madness
 
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who was completely silent when the mullahs slaughtered Iranian citizens in hospital beds, immediately condemned Israel and the United States, calling the strikes against Iran “a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression.”
 
He then went on to assure New Yorkers that he was “taking proactive steps” to ensure peace in the city by “enhancing police patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution.”
 
What is the mayor worried about? Is he expecting riots from outraged Jews or unhinged Presbyterians? Of course not. He’s worried about anti-American, antisemitic radical Muslims rioting and potential Iranian operatives committing acts of terrorism in his city.
 
Mamdani also had the audacity to tell Iranian New Yorkers that they “will be safe here.” Safe from whom? The only people threatening Iranian New Yorkers are agents of the ayatollah!
 
 
 
“Death To The Dictator”
 
That is a popular chant among brave Iranians who openly protested against the Iranian regime. When news of Khamenei’s death first broke, Iranians in the United States, in Europe, and in Iran took to the streets.
 
They weren’t protesting. Unlike Mamdani, they were celebrating the death of the ayatollah and what the United States and Israel are doing to liberate Iran.
 
Of course, there were some pro-regime counterdemonstrations. But as one reporter put it, “I couldn’t find any actual Iranians in the demonstrations.”
 
Believe it or not, the revolutionary neo-Marxist network funded by Maoist billionaire Neville Singham was organizing resistance to the U.S.-Israeli campaign before President Trump even announced it was underway.
 
Whether it’s communist China, Hamas, drug cartels, or tyrants in Tehran, these people are always siding with America’s enemies. They are traitors.
 

 

 
 
Purim
 
Last night, Jews all over the world celebrated Purim. It is a festive holiday that celebrates the deliverance and survival of the Jewish people when Queen Esther broke protocol and saved the Jews in Persia from a plot to annihilate them.
 
Just as it did so many centuries ago, Israel is once again facing an existential threat from modern day Persia. Iran’s leaders have routinely promised a second Holocaust and the annihilation of Israel.
 
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Israeli people and connected the events of Purim to the existential threat posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran today. He said:
 
“My brothers and sisters, in two days we will celebrate the holiday of Purim. Two thousand five hundred years ago, in ancient Persia, an enemy rose against us with the exact same goal of completely destroying our people. But Mordechai the Jew and Queen Esther, with their courage and resourcefulness, saved our people. In those days of Purim, the lot was cast, and the wicked Haman fell along with it.
 
"Even today on the holiday of Purim, the lot was cast, and the end of the evil regime will also come. The prophet Amos says, ‘The lion has roared, who will not fear?’ In Operation Lion’s Roar, we roar. Do not fear Israel, for are you not a young lion? We will stand as one person with one heart, and with God’s help, we will ensure the eternity of Israel.”
 
So long as God gives me breath, I promise to fight the ancient evil of antisemitism and to always stand with Israel and its people, the apple of God’s eye.
 
To all of our Jewish friends and supporters, Chag Purim Sameach!