The U.S. State Department is now telling all U.S. Citizens from 14 middle east countries to make immediate plans to exit the region. These are not travel advisories, these are specific instructions to leave the region.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar posted on the social media site X that Americans in countries, including Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel, should “DEPART NOW” using any available commercial transportation.

The guidance comes as many major airlines have canceled flights to and from the region as the war that began when U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday. It has since grown into a wider regional conflict, touching nearly every country nearby.

A “boxcar effect” is now taking place.  As each day passes without airline flights available, more and more travelers are stuck in the region as their planned departure is cancelled.  What might begin day #1 as several thousand people stranded, can quickly become several tens of thousands in a few days.  The instructions to exit appear timed as an effort to avoid the numbers continuing to climb.  However, without airlines operating departures become problematic.

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When pressed on how long the U.S. military would remain focused on Iran, secretary of State Marco Rubio said as long as it takes. “The hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now,” he told reporters at the U.S. Capitol.

“How long will it take? I don’t know how long it will take,” Rubio said. “We have objectives. We will do this as long as it takes to achieve those objectives.”

“We would love for there to be an Iran that’s not governed by radical Shia clerics,” he said heading into a classified briefing on Capitol Hill. “That’s not the objective.” … “The objectives of this operation are to destroy their ballistic missile capability and make sure they can’t rebuild it and make sure that they can’t hide behind that to have a nuclear program,” he said. “That’s the objective of the mission.”  WATCH:

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At least from my limited perspective, the biggest surprise coming from Operation Epic Fury so far is the counterstrike reaction from Iran toward the rest of the region.  I have reached out to several people about this, and everyone has a different response.

Within a few hours of the operation against Iran beginning, the Iranian regime began firing counterstrikes against the entire Arab region.  Instead of their traditional approach toward striking back at limited U.S. military bases in/around Iraq and/or Israel, Iran began firing missiles and drones into the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain.

Brief recap map of the first 24 hours of attack sites, contrast with a map of known U.S. military bases.

This seemingly wanton striking out against the entire middle east region was not something CTH expected to see.

Additionally, the Iranian targets were not just limited to U.S. military bases, the missiles and drones were launching toward all kinds of random infrastructure throughout the Arab world.  Most of these missiles and drones have been intercepted; however, no one has yet established a reasonable thesis as to why Iran chose this approach.

In a recent interview with Jake Tapper, President Trump also said the White House and Pentagon were surprised at the civilian targets selected by Iran for retaliatory strikes.  The White House, State Dept and U.S. military did not expect to see Iran retaliate against regional allied partners, and the reaction has been for the Arab countries to be even more supportive of the attacks against Iran.

All of the Arab countries that seemingly would have sat on the sidelines and given tacit support, are now openly providing support and even expressing a willingness to get involved with their own military to assist.  This is a first.

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President Trump was previously scheduled to participate in a Medal of Honor ceremony, prior to the start of joint Operation Epic Fury in Iran. As the Medal of Honor event began this morning, President Trump delivered remarks about Iran.  WATCH (prompted):

As noted by President Trump the current operation continues degrading the Iranian war machine.  The U.S. and Israeli military are systematically taking down strategic targets inside Iran.  Simultaneously, the Iranian naval fleet is being targeted and continues to be destroyed.

As target packages are worked using a previous priority list, the U.S. operation continues from air and sea. Waves of missiles, drones, U.S. fighters and bomber aircraft as well as naval assets are continuing to bombard the Iranian military destroying their capacity to wage war.

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan “Razin? Caine hold a Pentagon press briefing to discuss the U.S/Israel war against Iran.  The anticipated start time is 8:00am ET with livestream links below:

UPDATE: Video Added – Media Questions begin at 29:00 of the video 

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Several online videos have surface of U.S. F-15 pilots ejecting out of aircraft that were seemingly hit during combat operations.  According to most accounts the incidents took place over the skies of Kuwait and there are indications these were ‘friendly fire’ mistakes.

With all of the inbound drone, UAV, missile and ballistic missile activity it would not be a surprise to hear of Kuwaiti air defense forces accidentally targeting coalition or U.S. fighter jets that would be traversing the region.

All of the pilots are reported to be safe and with the assistance of the Kuwaiti government returning to their U.S. military bases.  Given the “fog of war” it is best to wait until details are released from the Pentagon.

UPDATE: Immediately after writing, this update appears from CENTCOM:

TAMPA, Fla. – At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident.

During active combat—that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones — the U.S. Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses.

All six aircrew ejected safely, have been safely recovered, and are in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation.

The cause of the incident is under investigation. Additional information will be released as it becomes available. (SOURCE)

Original:

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President Trump makes remarks about the ongoing “Operation Epic Fury.”

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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a very popular tourist destination in the middle east with most travelers traveling to the playground of Dubai.  Their economy and image as a safe and secure country are very important.  As a result, they are keenly sensitive, proactive toward negative impressions and highly focused on international opinion/security.

Iran has been sending drones and cruise/ballistic missiles into the entire region; hitting Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and Israel.

The UAE is sharing how intense they are being targeted along with the network of defense systems being deployed to intercept the attacks.

UAE Ministry of Defense confirms we successfully shot down: 165 ballistic missiles, 2 cruise missiles and 541 drones fired by Iran.

On day 2, we shot down 20 ballistic missiles (8 fell in sea), 2 cruise missiles, and 311 drones. 21 drones hit civilian targets. {SOURCE}

This is a remarkable amount of Iranian firepower being targeted toward one regional nation.  The air defense system of the UAE is highlighting the value in very proactive defense positioning.  Quite remarkable.

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Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton appears on CBS Face the Nation to discuss the ongoing U.S. military operation against Iran.  Video and Transcript Below

[TRANSCRIPT] – MARGARET BRENNAN: Imtiaz Tyab reporting from Muscat, Oman. We turn now to the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Arkansas Republican Tom Cotton, who joins us from Bentonville. Good morning to you, Senator.

SEN. TOM COTTON: Good morning, Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The President of the United States warned the American public that there could be casualties, American casualties. Does that mean the U.S. is putting boots on the ground?

SEN. COTTON: No, Margaret, the president has been clear that what we should expect to see is an extended air and naval campaign that’s designed not only to continue to set back Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but most importantly, to destroy its vast missile arsenal. Many more missiles than the United States and Israel have air defenses combined, as well as the missile launchers and its missile manufacturing capability. Now obviously one risk of that kind of campaign is that an aircraft could be shot down, and the president would never leave a pilot behind. So no doubt we have combat search and rescue assets in the region that are prepared to go in and extract any downed pilot. But barring that kind of unusual circumstance, Margaret, the president has no plan for any kind of large scale ground force inside of Iran.

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A former New York City resident and U.S. citizen immigrant originally from Senegal, opened fire at a crowded Austin, Texas, bar, killing three people and injuring 14 others. Sources have told media the attack may have been motivated by recent U.S. strikes on Iran. {UPDATE: Shooter Pictured Below Fold}

The shooter was found to have a Quran in his vehicle and was wearing what is described as Islamic attire. The FBI is probing the incident as a potential act of ideologically driven terrorism. (PROMPTED)

(Fox 7 – Austin) – At a press conference early Sunday, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said police received a call around 1:40 a.m. for reports of a “male shooting” at Buford’s, a beer garden in the city’s busy entertainment district.

When police arrived at the scene, they confronted a man with a gun and then “returned fire, killing the suspect,” Davis said. According to EMS Chief Robert Luckritz, three people died at the scene and 14 people were taken to hospitals. Three of those injured were in critical condition.

A spokesman for the FBI said at a news conference later Sunday morning that the gunman appears to have ties to a terror group, but that is still under investigation.

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