We all know that this war is not over

Rubio doubles down on claim Iran war is “over,” says US achieved “victory”

By Jennifer Hansler

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio doubled down Wednesday on his claim that the war with Iran is “over” and said the United States has achieved “victory.”

In a heated exchange with Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs, Rubio was pressed on his assessment that Operation Epic Fury has ended.

“If the war is over, who won?” the California Democrat asked.

Rubio, who would not describe the US military assault as a “war,” said it was a “fact” that the military operation is over.

“We’re no longer conducting sustained strikes inside of Iran to degrade their military, because Epic Fury is over,” he said. “The second point, as on the question of who won, I can tell you this: We define victory. We define victory as destroying their defense industrial base, significantly reducing the number of missile launchers that they possess, significantly reducing their stockpile of drones, and we achieved all those, in addition to destroying what they had left of an air force and wiping out their entire conventional navy.”

“Those are all gone,” he claimed. “So, I consider that victory, and we did, too. And that was the purpose of Epic Fury.”

Rubio was questioned on reported intelligence assessments that Iran is more rapidly reconstituting its military-industrial base than expected, as well as the loss of US service members and the survival of the Iranian regime.

“Does this actually look like winning or losing to you?” Jacobs asked.

Rubio claimed he was not aware of the reported intelligence assessments and argued that “people manipulate intelligence and analysis for purposes of furthering a narrative.” He said the regime was “deeply fractured” and that the Iranian economy is faltering.

“The American people are not stupid, Mr. Secretary. We all know that this war is not over,” Jacobs countered.