The hardest hits are yet to come

Marco Rubio spoke to reporters on Capitol Hill today after classified briefings for the Senate and the House. He said the attacks on Iran "in the next few hours and days" will increase in scope and intensity. "The two most powerful air forces in the world will take apart this terroristic regime and defang it and take away its ability to threaten its neighbours or hide behind a zone of immunity that allows them to develop their nuclear ambitions."

This is not empty rhetoric. The numbers back it up. Israel claims to have destroyed 300 Iranian missile launchers since the conflict began. Iranian ballistic missile attacks on Israel have dropped 70%, and drone attacks 83%. The Israeli air force says it struck over 400 targets in western Iran today alone, destroying ballistic missile launchers and drone depots. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US is "winning decisively" and that more forces are arriving in the region.

There is a shift in tone worth noting. On Saturday, the operation was presented as a pre-emptive strike. Today, Rubio speaks openly of dismantling the regime. Trump said the operation would last "four to five weeks" but could go "far longer." On Truth Social he posted there can be no deal with Iran "except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER." From surgical strike to war of attrition in four days. The machinery is in motion, and the logic of escalation has its own momentum.