New York, March 3 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has not ruled out sending US troops into Iran “if necessary in a further move away from his earlier opposition to getting involved in wars abroad. ​He told the New York Post, Like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it. ​He said it could happen “if they were necessary, but “I'll say ‘probably don’t need them’. ​His remark about possible troop involvement in the conflict came as the Central Command reported on X that four members of US forces have died as of Monday. ​He had foreseen the possibility of US casualties when he announced the start of Operation Epic Fury on Saturday morning. ​“The Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties — that often happens in war, he said in the video announcement. ​Trump told the Post in the interview published on Monday that Operation Epic Fury is going “way ahead of schedule and “is going to go pretty quickly. ​He said it was expected to take four weeks to take out Iran’s leadership, but 49 leaders were killed “in one day. ​Those killed included Iran’s Supreme ruler Ali Khamenei. ​However, on Monday, Trump said that he expected Operation Epic Fury to last four to five weeks, but he was ready if it was "to go far longer than that. ​Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Danny Danon, said it would take as long as necessary. ​After several misadventures with US wars abroad, Americans are wary of entanglements. ​It was starkly reflected in a Reuters-IPSOS poll that showed only 27 percent of those polled supported the attack on Iran, 43 per cent disagreed with the decision, and 13 per cent were uncertain. ​Trump dismissed it, saying, “I don’t care about polling. I have to do the right thing.He added, “I think people are very impressed with what is happening, actually.He indicated that he was depending on a “silent majority that would show up in what he called a “real poll. ​With his America First agenda, Trump had been sceptical of getting involved in military action abroad during his campaign for the presidency and had aimed for a Nobel Peace Prize. ​But this year, he ordered his military to go into Venezuela and capture its leader, Nicolas Maduro.​Last week, he launched Operation Epic Fury on a much greater scale against Iran.--IANSal/dan​(Disclaimer: This post has been auto published from IANS news agency without any modification to the text and has not been reviewed by editor)
