‘I’d love to keep that a secret, Mr. President’: Trump’s boasts about Iran rescue flummox top advisors |
‘I’d love to keep that a secret, Mr. President’: Trump’s boasts about Iran rescue flummox top advisors
The United States relied on dozens of aircraft, hundreds of personnel, secret CIA technology and a dose of subterfuge to rescue a two-man fighter jet crew downed deep inside Iran, a risky mission that President Donald Trump and his top defense aides detailed Monday.
U.S. forces rescued the pilot within hours of the F-15E Strike Eagle going down late Thursday, surging helicopters, midair refuelers and fighter aircraft deep into Iran after confirming his location, Trump said in a valedictory news conference at the White House, describing the military operation in an unusual level of detail.
The second aviator aboard the aircraft — the weapons systems officer — was rescued nearly two days later.
Trump boasted of the military resources surged and coordination across U.S. agencies to pull off the daring mission to recover the troops in enemy territory, describing the shootdown of the jet by Iran as “a lucky hit” after claiming in a national address last week to have “beaten and completely decimated Iran.”
Another jet is downed in the rescue for the F-15 pilot
The search and rescue operation began in daylight over Iran, with helicopters and other aircraft flying low for seven hours, “at times facing very, very heavy enemy fire,” Trump said.
An A-10 Warthog, which was the attack aircraft primarily responsible for keeping in contact with the downed F-15 pilot on the ground, was hit by enemy fire while engaging Iranian forces, said Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The A-10 was “not landable,” Caine told........