US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has denied that is a “quagmire” and called Democratic lawmakers “feckless” for criticising the conflict.
Hegseth, who was testifying before the Congress for the first time since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, asked the lawmakers to approve a $1.5 trillion defence and criticised some lawmakers as “the biggest challenge” in the war effort.
Democrats grilled Hegseth as he appeared before the House armed services committee alongside Genral Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff with Representative John Garamendi of California calling it a “quagmire” and “political and economic disaster at every level.”
In response to Garamendi, Hegseth said, “You call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies? Shame on you for that statement,” and called Congressional Democrats “reckless, feckless, and defeatist.”
Defending the US military’s Operation Epic Fury against Iran, the Pentagon chief angrily further said, “Don’t say: ‘I support the troops on one hand, and then a two-month mission is a quagmire.’ … Who are you cheering for here? Who you pulling for?”
Providing rationale behind the conflict in West Asia, Hegseth said that Iran war was necessary because Tehran had not let go of its “nuclear ambitions.” However, the defence secretary and the defence department’s chief spokesperson had said in June last year after launching attacks that Iran’s nuclear ambitions were “obliterated”.
During the committee hearing in the Congress, Hegseth said, “Their nuclear facilities have been obliterated, underground they’re buried, and we’re watching them 24/7 so we know where any nuclear material might be.”
Hegseth further defended the US military, saying the defence personnel put in “maximum defensive posture” capabilities in the Middle East ahead of the war with Iran in February.
“What I’m saying is before the commencement of the conflict, we put in maximum defensive posture we could…we moved … 7,500 troops off of the X based on the intel,” Hegseth said.
