Opinion

One Month at War With Iran — Can Washington define victory?

The Trump administration is tallying strikes and sunken ships the way commanders in Vietnam tallied body counts

By Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis, (ret.) Fox News

Published April 1, 2026 5:00am EDT

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Wars are not defined by the tonnage of munitions expended or ships sunk. They are defined by whether military force serves a coherent political objective. One month into Operation Epic Fury, that principle remains unlearned.

On February 28, U.S. and Israeli forces launched the largest American military action in the Middle East since Iraq. Iran’s navy has been gutted, its air defenses wrecked, and its missile production disrupted. The administration is tallying strikes and sunken ships the way commanders in Vietnam tallied body counts. Those metrics told then-President Lyndon B. Johnson nothing about whether he was winning. They tell us nothing now.

The Military Picture

Iran is still fighting. Despite losing over 150 naval vessels and its supreme leader in the opening strikes, the regime did not fracture. Mojtaba Khamenei was installed as the supreme leader within days. This past week, the IRGC’s navy commander was killed in a U.S. strike. No succession crisis followed. U.S. intelligence assessments confirmed the regime remains "intact but largely degraded." Degraded is not defeated.

Iran entered this war already financially broken. It is still fighting. A regime that keeps fighting after its financial system has already collapsed will not be stopped by economic pressure alone.

DEFIANT IRAN VOWS TO FIGHT 'UNTIL COMPLETE VICTORY,' DESPITE HEAVY MILITARY LOSSES

The escalation is accelerating. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared last week that Operation Epic Fury "is not an endless war" — and that same day, the Pentagon ordered 2,000 paratroopers from the 82nd........

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