TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The United States is preparing for a war against Iran that could last at least 100 days or until September 2026, according to a report by Politico cited by Middle East Eye. On Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth revised the timeline for military operations against Iran to eight weeks, up from the previous estimate of four to five weeks.
U.S. President Donald Trump had previously set a deadline of four to five weeks to execute an attack on Iran if necessary.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has requested additional military intelligence officers at its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support Iran-related operations, the newspaper reported, citing internal Pentagon documents.
The surge in intelligence personnel indicates that the Pentagon is budgeting for prolonged operations and suggests that the U.S. government initially underestimated the scale of the conflict.
The U.S. effort to increase evacuation resources for American citizens in the Middle East and bolster intelligence-gathering forces further indicates that the Trump administration was not fully prepared for a larger conflict with Iran, Politico reported.
Atmosphere of Panic
An operation of this magnitude is typically planned months in advance, but sudden panic within the Pentagon suggests that officials underestimated the impact of an attack on Iran, according to Politico.
Previous reports by Politico on February 25 revealed that senior Trump advisors preferred for Israel to attack Iran first before the United States launched its own strike.
This sequence of events eventually unfolded, dragging Washington directly into the war. The joint Israel-U.S. attack on Iran has killed at least 1,000 people and injured hundreds more, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.
The group stated the casualties include more than 165 people, mostly children, who were killed in a double strike on an elementary school, one of the deadliest incidents reported since the war began.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his family, along with several senior Iranian officials, were also among the casualties. Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command stated on Monday that six U.S. military personnel were killed in Kuwait following an Iranian attack.
A Threat to the Trump Presidency
This conflict now threatens to dominate Trump's presidency and deepen divisions within his political base, where many supporters oppose another Middle Eastern war on behalf of Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio openly acknowledged that Israel's actions forced Washington's hand.
"We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action," Rubio said. "We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties."
Rubio's statement underscored Washington's refusal to restrain Israel, even as Israel’s decisions dragged the United States into a major regional war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently openly celebrated the second Israel-U.S. war with Iran in less than a year.
On Sunday, he said the attack on Iran was carried out with "the assistance of the United States, my friend, US President Donald Trump, and the US military." He also described the war as the culmination of a goal pursued for decades. "This coalition of forces allows us to do what I have yearned to do for 40 years. … This is what I promised - and this is what we shall do."
On Saturday, the U.S. and Israel launched a series of attacks on several targets in Iran, including Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran then launched a retaliatory missile attack on Israel and U.S. military facilities across the Middle East.
Read: US Senate Fails to Stop Trump's War on Iran
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