Has the war against Iran ended? Trump resolutely dropped the ball, stating that the US Congress refused to allocate an additional $50 billion.
On March 9th, in response to the rare decision by both chambers of Congress to reject the additional $5 billion in war funding, Trump quickly reacted, publicly declaring in a phone interview that "the war has basically ended."
In the initial phase, the White House had optimistically estimated that it would take only 4 to 5 weeks to destroy Iran's military command system and key infrastructure, forcing it back to the negotiating table. However, the reality proved far more complex than expected.
Although Iran's navy and air force suffered heavy damage in the first strike, its missile retaliation remained active. The US military had to extend the air strike cycle and gradually increase the bombing of Tomahawk missiles and JDAM bombs, leading to a sharp rise in military spending. According to internal estimates from the Pentagon, the current daily operational cost has reached as high as $1 billion, and if it continues for three months, the total expenditure will exceed $100 billion.
At the beginning of March, the White House submitted an emergency appropriation bill to Congress, requesting an additional $5 billion to support the ongoing military action against Iran. However, this proposal faced strong resistance in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Notably, the opposition voices came not only from Democrats but also included a large number of Republican legislators. The Congress clearly conveyed two core positions: one was to never send ground forces into Iranian territory; the second was to reject any form of long-term occupation plan.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon has begun to suspend some non-critical procurement plans, including slowing down the development of next-generation fighter aircraft and delaying maintenance of naval vessels. At the same time, some troop deployments originally intended for the Asia-Pacific region have been temporarily adjusted to the Middle East theater. This "breaking down the east wall to patch the west" approach inevitably weakens the overall combat readiness of the US military.
Dao Ge believes that if the US military does not deploy ground forces, this operation is essentially over. For a mountainous country like Iran, air strikes alone cannot lead to a complete victory. Now, more and more Fateh missiles and Shahed-136 drones are launched from caves. Does the US military really send B2 bombers carrying GBU-57 bombs every time to destroy them? It's unrealistic.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859236631854156/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.