Why Operation Midnight Hammer Stands Out

TOP LINE

Previous Commanders in Chief passed on the chance to assassinate Iran’s top general and attack Iran’s nuclear facilities based on the analysis that US military action would escalate into a regional conflict that draws in other nations.

President Trump has now done both.  In his first term, he authorized a drone strike that killed Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani.  And over the weekend, he targeted key nuclear facilities in Iran.

DEEP DIVE

I was at the Pentagon Friday afternoon and it seemed unusually quiet.  I have reported from Washington D.C since October 2001, and the weekend exodus of government personnel can begin as early Friday afternoon.   

The parking lot was virtually empty and the hallway that runs past the office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the top military adviser to the President,  appeared abandoned.  It seemed a bit off even for a summer Friday.  The conspicuous lack of activity can now be explained by the secrecy surrounding “Operation Midnight Hammer.”

On CNN Sunday, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff complained that some senior democrats in Congress had not been briefed about the operation.  Democratic congressman Ro Khanna made similar complaints on CBS News.  

I was not surprised by the apparent lack of full congressional notification because Congress is notorious for leaking like a sieve. I know firsthand that some lawmakers head into classified sessions, and then exit through the back door to brief friendly reporters in the hallway, later identified as “a source familiar” with the matter.  

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The largest B-2 bombing in US history also took the Iranian leadership by surprise.   The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff explained at a Pentagon briefing Sunday that the military used deception tactics.   

Air Force General Dan Caine revealed that Friday night a smaller “decoy” group of aircraft headed west, while the mission’s bombers headed east toward their Iranian targets. Caine emphasized to reporters Sunday that the US military is not aware of “any shots fired” on the bombers (what’s known as a Strike Package) on the way in or on the way out of Iranian air space.

NO CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORIZATION NECESSARY

Some of the same lawmakers who complained that President Trump did not seek congressional approval have apparently forgotten that President Obama expanded the use of lethal drone strikes without their authorization.

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