00:00U.S. Central Command has now confirmed that three U.S. service members have been killed in action as part
00:05of ongoing operations with Epic Fury.
00:08This message came out from U.S. Central Command's official X page at 930 Eastern on March 1st, confirming that
00:15three members have been killed and five seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury.
00:20Several others sustained minor injuries from shrapnel and concussions and are in the process of being returned to duty.
00:26Major combat operations are obviously still ongoing.
00:30This situation is fluid, so out of respect for the families, we will withhold additional information until 24 hours after
00:35the next of kin notification.
00:37Clearly, this is combat, and this is a very dynamic and fluid situation, as U.S. Central Command alluded to.
00:44The IRGC is also making claims that it struck the USS Abraham Lincoln.
00:49However, that's been debunked by Central Command saying that Lincoln was not hit.
00:52The missiles launched didn't even come close.
00:55The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM's relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats
01:02from the Iranian regime.
01:04However, the Iranians did strike an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
01:09Now, this is the starlight tanker that is burning in the Strait of Hormuz.
01:14The potential by now has sunk and completely stricken.
01:16So, what we know from it, this is part of Iran's shadow fleet, one of their own ships that we've
01:22been tracking, and they reached out and struck it.
01:24On board were 15 crew members from India and five, and they've been rescued by the Imanians.
01:31Several of them have been injured.
01:33Now, this post is coming from Mr. Prayer, which we talked about in one of our previous videos, who's an
01:37independent analyst in the region.
01:39I think he makes some really good points that you didn't need to mine or provide kinetic strikes in the
01:46Strait of Hormuz, although this is clearly a kinetic strike, to make it untenable or unpassable.
01:51Unpassable, because when you have the implications of insurance companies, they're insuring each one of these vessels for their passage.
01:58You quickly make any insurance company not willing to take the risk to transit oil and goods through this narrow
02:06choke point.
02:07And with millions of barrels passing through this each and every day, the ramifications obviously are going to hit on
02:12the global scale.
02:13Now, the starlight was a pluin, probably butchering that.
02:16That's out of Oceania in the Pacific, a country that the ship was flagged.
02:21Under, however, it was sanctioned under the U.S. Treasury Department, the Foreign Assets Control, back in December for transporting
02:28Iranian petroleum.
02:29It's now being reported that the IRGC began broadcasting on the VHF Channel 16, which is the Maritime Distress Channel,
02:37and calling frequency that multiple ships received broadcasts from Iranian forces claiming that the Strait of Hormuz is closed and
02:45that no vessel is permitted to transit.
02:47The Maritime Information Control Center confirmed that no official notice had been issued to close it.
02:52However, the IRGC Navy clarified that it's open to all tankers except American vessels, despite the fact that they struck
02:59one of their own vessels, claiming that it had passed illegally through the strait.
03:04So quite ironic, but a telltale sign of just, again, how this is escalating and the chaos that is ensuing
03:12in the region.
03:13Now, the IRGC put out a 37-second video Sunday morning showing an F-4 and saying that they are
03:21going to attack U.S. bases with their F-4 Phantom jets.
03:25I mean, it's comical that this gets put out.
03:29And so it's interesting why they would put this out if it's just a propaganda campaign trying to hold on
03:35to control in the region.
03:37But clearly, an F-4, you know, 1970s technology, maybe with a couple upgrades, is not going to fare very
03:45well against F-22s, F-35s, F-16s, F-18s, F-15Es.
03:51It's just not going to go great.
03:52And I guarantee you there are hundreds of fighter pilots salivating at the opportunity to see an F-4, Iranian
03:58F-4 scramble and actually make it off the ground.
04:01Because we have seen Israeli strikes already take out F-5s and F-4s that were holding short or were
04:08on an airfield trying to taxi, getting ready to taxi.
04:11So they can't even get off the ground when it comes down to it.
04:15So them putting out this video, again, it's just, it'd be an interesting psychological study.
04:20Again, is it grasping at straws?
04:22Because clearly they are not winning the offensive campaign when it comes to, you know, their own country and defending
04:29it.
04:46There definitely will be some case studies going on inside the military, but we saw this in Venezuela.
04:53Now we're seeing this in Iran.
04:54You know, both of those countries getting support from China and Russia with advanced surface-to-air missile systems, radar
05:01systems, etc.
05:02You know, and it appears from what we're seeing so far, this hasn't been an issue for the U.S.
05:07or Israeli jets.
05:09Integrating cyberspace, low-observable technology, that China's anti-stealth radar that they provided back in January hasn't been an issue.
05:19Maybe it's detected these stealth assets out there, and then they just can't connect the dots to being able to
05:26go out there and strike or defend against it.
05:28But nonetheless, again, it hasn't been a factor thus far.
05:32So, again, this is obviously a continuing and developing situation.
05:36Drop any questions you might have down below.
05:38We'll try and get them answered as we continue to do this.
05:42And make sure you check out our newsletter, which is also down below and absolutely free.
05:46That way you can say a prize of anything we're putting out there.
05:49And we'll see you next time.
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