Alex Pelbath, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and South Carolina congressional candidate, told Newsmax Saturday that the U.S. has been able to bomb strategic targets at will in Iran.
"We have moved to 99% of the munitions we're using that are non-standoff munitions," Pelbath said on "Saturday Agenda."
"This means that we have complete control over the sky standoff munitions, meaning we can't fly overhead and drop bombs," he said.
"We have to continue to launch long-range missiles," Pelbath added.
"The fact that we're no longer doing that and we're able to bomb essentially at will these strategic targets is significant.
"And then taking this specific strategic objective is significant, not just for the morale of Iran and showing just what we're capable of, but also having a strategic foothold in something so close to the mainland, very important to the war effort," Pelbath said.
"By sending 2,000 marines to the Middle East on the warship USS Tripoli, President Donald Trump is signaling all options are on the table," Pelbath said.
"I love that the president is doing this," Pelbath said. "Iran needs to realize ... this isn't the previous president."
Pelbath recounted his time as air mission commander for the evacuation of Kabul and why that went poorly.
"The reason that was such a debacle is because we telegraphed our limitations," Pelbath said.
"We are not doing that here. We absolutely could put boots on the ground if we needed to.
"I don't think anybody wants that to happen, but Iran needs to understand that this is a very viable option at this point," Pelbath added.
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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