With Iran continuing to rattle their sabers throughout the Middle East, US President Donald Trump is losing his patience.
It all began with a New Year’s Day attack in Baghdad, where the US embassy came under siege for several hours. The mob responsible for the “protest” was later found to have been backed by an Iranian militia.
In response, the Trump administration conducted an airstrike that killed Iran’s General Qasim Soleimani. Now, the march of war seems inevitable.
On Monday, a massive show of American military force was on display, In what the Air Force is calling a coincidence.
The U.S. Air Force conducted an exercise involving the launch of 52 fighter jets from a Utah air base, officials said.
Hill Air Force Base launched the F-35A Lightning II fighters over a 10-minute period around 11 a.m. Monday, The Standard-Examiner reports.
The 388th and 419th Fighter Wings conducted the combat exercise that sent the jets west to the Utah Test and Training Range to perform various missions.
Col. Michael Ebner, the 388th vice commander, said Monday’s exercise had been planned as a “culminating event” after the two fighter wings received their full complement of fighter jets.
While the effort was intended to demonstrate an ability to conduct large-scale combat deployment in a short time, it was not in direct response to the United States’ escalating situation with Iran, Ebner said.
Iran has repeatedly threatened the United States in the wake of Soleimani’s death, prompting several cities inside of the US to beef up anti-terror security measures.
Soleimani had been deemed responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans through his lengthy, terror-centric career, and was planning “imminent” new attacks against US targets according to the White House.
