Filenews 23 June 2025 - by Andreas Kluth
No other army in the world could do that. This is what President Donald Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social in the early hours of Sunday (Iran time). The same was repeated by his Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and General Dan Kane, shortly thereafter. And it's true.
Operation Midnight Hammer, the code name for the U.S. attack on Iran, was a true display of military might. A total of 125 aircraft and 75 types of precision weapons participated, as well as submarines and support from land, space and cyberspace, all harmoniously coordinated. It began, and continued, with a masterful deception, as some B-2 bombers wanted to be spotted flying west of the U.S., while the stealths – the real "hunters" – were heading east.
They entered Iranian airspace, dropped 14 GBU-57 "bunker busters" — the world's largest non-nuclear bombs, never used before — and, as Trump claims, "eliminated" Iran's nuclear program. "At the moment we have no knowledge of strikes against the American strike group," Kane noted, as some of the B-2s were still in the air returning to base. Everything indicates that this particular American force was never detected, even when it hit entire mountains with its ammunition.
As a mission, Midnight Hammer is considered an absolute triumph. It also resembles the kind of "force" that Trump continues to claim to be the main feature of his foreign policy — unlike his predecessor's foreign policy.
However, tactics are one thing and strategy is another. Trump's full slogan is "peace through force," and he and Hegseth hope that this initial tactical success will lead to a strategic victory. Unlike the Israelis, Trump does not define it (yet) as regime change in Iran, but as the "limited" goal of eliminating or at least suspending Iran's nuclear program. I really hope that this is the outcome – and not a never-ending escalation and flare that will eventually lead to an Iranian nuclear weapon.
And yet, I hear an ominous message reminiscent of previous American presidents who prematurely declared "mission accomplished." In Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, the first part—which was not about soft power or diplomacy, but about bombs, where America is unbeatable—proved to be the easiest. (The only B-2 mission longer than the weekend was immediately after 9/11, when the U.S. struck Afghanistan.)
What follows – and not just in the coming weeks, but also in the years to come – is what creates the biggest problems: chaos and violence, the unpredictable development of new terrorist networks, the outbreak of civil wars or the rise of dictators, the redirection of American resources to one region (the Middle East) and the removal from others (East Asia, for example). Keep in mind that Beijing, Moscow, and Pyongyang are also reading Truth Social and adjusting their own calculations, just like America's adversaries around the world.
As the ancient Greeks knew, and as American presidents constantly forgot, the greater one's power, the greater the danger of arrogance (hubris). This is the first point of concern about the American strikes this weekend. Trump's message to the MAGA base conveyed exactly the opposite, namely restraint in foreign policy, if not humility. America First was largely a promise to keep the U.S. out of the "eternal wars" of its predecessors.
That is why a part of his movement is terrified by this turn of events. Republicans in Congress, since the bombing began, have been loyally aligned behind Trump. But there are others, more free to express their opinions. Among them is Steve Bannon, a member of Trump's first administration and an "indicator" of isolationism in the ranks of MAGA, who considers this U.S. intervention in Israel's conflict with Iran "an unfolding aspect of World War III."
Democrats on Capitol Hill, who are also eager to denuclearize Iran, point to another Midnight Hammer problem. "It's clear that President Trump has been driven [to this point] by Prime Minister Netanyahu" of Israel, says Senator Chris Van Hollen. However Trump handles it now, he didn't want war but a deal with Iran, while Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu was trying to convince the U.S. to participate in the bombing.
Trump accepted Israel's campaign only when he realized he couldn't stop his ally. He was only thrilled when he saw the Israeli strikes succeed. Stephen Verheim of the Carnegie Institution argues that Israel "acted less to prevent an Iranian bomb and more to deter American diplomacy."
In other words, Bibi caught up with Donald and the latter allowed it (which hardly indicates strength). The Israeli strikes interrupted the U.S.-Iranian negotiations. (Another meeting in Oman was scheduled between the two groups when Netanyahu gave the order for an attack.) Even then, Trump said he would give Tehran another two weeks before deciding whether or not to participate. This deadline has been converted to two days. Whatever we call it, this is neither negotiation nor peace.
Where are we now? We should wait not for the outcome of the nuclear talks, but for the retaliation of the Iranian regime and the consequences for the Middle East, America and the world. Just a month ago, Trump was in the region, criticizing previous U.S. presidents for "interfering in complex societies that they didn't even understand." Now he is one of them.
Like most of the world, Trump hopes that Iran will back down so that he can declare the episode over and take credit for achieving peace through force. And like the rest of the world, he fears that history may take a different course, which he cannot yet foresee. "Remember, there are still many targets," he threatened in his speech after the attack — and if Iran does not surrender, "future attacks will be much greater."
If Sophocles were here to describe the hubris of 2025, he would probably have chosen a president who possessed superhero powers, like those of Midnight Hammer, and would have concluded that every problem is solved in the same way, ignoring that he may be the one who declares the start of the next eternal war. "There will be either peace or tragedy," Trump told America and the rest of the world on Saturday night. If he were honest, he would add that he can't control which of the two will happen.
BloombergOpinion
