Where this was said
Rubio Lies About Iran's Military While US Base Damage Goes Unreported
At 36:52 · chapter starts 32:20
A clip of Marco Rubio testifying to Congress that Operation Epic Fury substantially degraded Iran's defense industrial base is juxtaposed with Trump musing that he actually left the Iranian military alone because they're 'moderates.' Ben Rhodes shreds both claims: reporting indicates over 70% of Iran's ballistic missiles and launchers are still intact, the Iranian Navy continues to control the Strait of Hormuz, and the damage to US military assets is vastly underreported. Tommy details the staggering scope drawn from BBC satellite imagery: 20 bases hit across eight countries, 42 aircraft destroyed, 24 MQ-9 drones lost, three THAAD batteries at $1 billion each destroyed, and an E-3 Sentry worth up to $700 million damaged. Ben frames this information gap as a product of corporate media consolidation — regular people in the Gulf are better informed about damage to American bases than most American citizens. The Pentagon kicking its own press corps out of their briefing room to make way for speechwriters in a newly declared SCIF is the latest move in that information war. [1] — Ben Rhodes "Marco Rubio went to Capitol Hill and claimed Operation Epic Fury had substantially degraded Iran's missile program. Reporting tells a compl…" 32:20 [2] — Ben Rhodes "70% of Iran's ballistic missiles intact: Despite Marco Rubio's claims of decimating Iran's missile program, reporting indicates over 70% of…" 33:21
Marco Rubio went to Capitol Hill and claimed Operation Epic Fury had substantially degraded Iran's missile program. Reporting tells a completely different story: over 70% of Iran's ballistic missiles and launchers are intact, the Iranian Navy still controls the Strait of Hormuz, and satellite imagery reveals 20 US military bases were damaged — something the Pentagon has never disclosed to American taxpayers.
Despite Marco Rubio's claims of decimating Iran's missile program, reporting indicates over 70% of Iran's ballistic missiles and launchers remain intact.
BBC satellite imagery revealed 20 US military facilities were struck across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Bahrain, and Oman during the Iran conflict.
