Trump claims military success against Iran, but gives no exit strategy in primetime speech

WASHINGTON, Apr 02 (APP): US President Donald Trump has described the U.S.-Israeli coordinated military operation against Iran as “overwhelming success”, yet faces criticism for lacking a clear exit strategy as the war continues.

In a 19-minute address from the White House, he said the U.S. would hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” but did not make any revealing announcements.

While boasting of decisive victories and threatening further escalation, he has not provided a timeline for withdrawal, prompting concerns over a potential “forever war”.

Instead, he described the military action against Iran as an overwhelming success and seemingly pleaded for concerned Americans uneasy about its costs and open-ended timeline to “keep this conflict in perspective.”

Trump ticked through the durations of the United States’ involvement in past conflicts, including the wars in Iraq and Vietnam, for the purpose of reminding Americans that the campaign against Iran had just entered its second month.

“If there’s no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and properly simultaneously.”

Trump demanded that Iran negotiate to end the war, just a day after he suggested to reporters in the Oval Office that he did not need Iran to reach a deal to end the conflict.

The President framed the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, a major conduit for oil worldwide, as an issue for other nations, even though earlier on Wednesday he said on social media he would not agree to any cease-fire deal unless it opened. Iran has choked off oil shipments through the strait, causing oil and natural gas prices to surge.

“We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on,” he said of other nations.

Trump also said that Iran’s “ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed.” The U.S. and Israeli militaries have destroyed many of Iran’s ballistic missiles and launchers in airstrikes. But a large number are undamaged, and Iran continues to fire missiles in the region.

Trump said he was considering pulling the United States out of NATO over the war with Iran. His comments, made in an interview with The Telegraph, plunged leaders in Europe — which has relied for decades on American military power — into another cycle of anxious deliberations.