Vance: No interest in boots on the ground but bracing for poss. sleeper-cell attacks in US

Vice President JD Vance on Sunday insisted the US has no interest in putting boots on the ground in Iran — while admitting the administration is bracing for potential terror attacks from sleeper cells in America.“We’re not at war with Iran.We’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program,” Vance told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”“We have no interest in a protracted conflict.

We have no interest in boots on the ground,” he said.“We didn’t blow up diplomacy.

“We only took this action when it was clear, as the president said, that the Iranians were tapping us along,” the vice president said of the US strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities Saturday.“The Iranians are clearly not very good at war.

Perhaps they should follow President Trump’s lead and give peace a chance if they’re serious about it.I guarantee you, the president of the United States is,” Vance said.The vice president insisted Iran’s network of terrorist proxies in the region is already washed up, as is its nuclear program, though comprehensive damage assessments haven’t been finished.After announcing the successful military campaign late Saturday, Trump dramatically warned that any retaliation from Iran “will be met with force far greater than what was witnessed” during the strikes on its Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan nuclear sites.Vance reiterated that warning and underscored that “it would be the stupidest thing in the world if they” seek retribution.

He also indicated that the US has been battening down the hatches just in case.“We’re, of course, doing everything that we can to keep our people safe.I think that we’re prepared in the event that the Iranians do retaliate,” Vance said — before later warning about possible sleeper cells in the US.“Unfortunately, we know that a lot of people who we don’t have full accounting of were let in over the last four years under the Biden administration,” Vance said.Also among the fears of reciprocation from ...