The display of American and Israeli firepower in Iran has been more fast-paced and overwhelming than America showed off in either of the first two Persian Gulf wars. The two allies are thought to have conducted more offensive sorties on February 28th than America managed on the first day of serious fighting—with much larger deployed forces—in either 1991 or 2003 (around 1,300 in each). Five days later Pete Hegseth, America’s secretary of war, boasted that “Operation Epic Fury has delivered twice the air power of shock and awe of Iraq in 2003.”
