WASHINGTON — In a striking comparison to the famous mission that ended Osama bin Laden’s life, Jeh Johnson, the former Secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, has praised the recent rescue operation of an F-15E Strike Eagle crew shot down over Iranian airspace. Johnson, who previously served as the Department of Defense’s general counsel during the bin Laden raid, lauded the operation as “remarkable” and urged for greater transparency regarding the military’s execution of the mission.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this past Sunday, Johnson emphasized the complexity and bravery involved in the rescue. “This operation for the first pilot and the second pilot is a remarkable exercise, demonstration of US military courage, technology, and power,” he remarked, highlighting its intricate nature. “This kind of operation is more complicated than the bin Laden operation, for example.”
Last Friday, the Iranian government claimed responsibility for downing an American F-15E fighter jet, which had two crew members on board, in the vicinity of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, close to the Iraqi border. In a concerning twist, Iran announced a $60,000 bounty for the capture of the crew members.
In addition to this incident, another US military aircraft, an A-10 attack plane, was also targeted by Iran. Fortunately, the pilot of the A-10 managed to navigate into Kuwaiti airspace and eject safely, avoiding capture.
On Friday, Iran took credit for downing an American F-15E fighter jet with two crew members on board near Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, which is close to Iraq. Iran had dangled a $60,000 reward for the crew members’ capture.
Iran also downed a second US military aircraft, an A-10 attack plane, but in that case, the pilot was able to steer into Kuwaiti airspace before ejecting.
US special forces retrieved the first crew member on Friday, then conducted a larger operation to rescue the second, who was injured but able to walk.
The second crew member had evaded Iranian forces for some 36 hours and had a beacon to communicate with the US, hiding in crevices and armed with just a handgun.
The rescue mission involved a bombing campaign by American attack aircraft to hit Iranian convoys circling around the crew member, while commandos engaged in skirmishes with the enemy before getting to the airman.
No Americans were killed in the rescue mission, according to President Trump.
“I’m not sure any of that justifies a $1.5 trillion budget request,” Johnson said of Trump’s proposed military spending submitted to Congress on Friday. “This was remarkable and I think Americans deserve to see a lot more about it.”
“I also believe that going forward, the president needs to provide a much more coherent explanation of the sacrifice he is asking of Americans.”
Johnson, who has long been critical of Trump, previously knocked Democrats over the government shutdown fights.
Trump is set to hold a press conference Monday to brief the public on the rescue operations, which he hailed as an “Easter miracle.”
“The fact that we were able to pull off both of these operations, without a SINGLE American killed, or even wounded, just proves once again, that we have achieved overwhelming Air Dominance and Superiority over the Iranian skies,” the president exulted on Truth Social late Saturday.
