Hegseth grilled over $37.5B Iran war cost: Retired general reacts

[0:00] Terry Hegshoff, did you, if you listen to my comments, you told, you would have heard me say how amazing our warfighters are. [0:05] I heard failure. The word, I heard exactly what you said. [0:08] I will tell you how I use the word failure, because I use the word failure to their leaders. [0:12] You, sir, are the failure, not the men and women who are on that front line. [0:16] You don't have a strategy. You don't have a long-term plan to actually win this war, win the war. [0:22] The men and women are going to be able to do it, but they need to have leadership. [0:25] Of course we have leadership. Of course we have leadership. [0:27] Why don't you show some leadership and stand up for your fellow Democrats who won't fund the troops, [0:32] who stand and play partisan politics while you don't give us the money. [0:34] Moments ago, a fiery hearing wrapping up where both Republicans and Democrats had some tough questions [0:40] for Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General John Raisin Cain and the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. [0:46] You just heard Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan calling Hegseth a failure. [0:51] Hegseth said that the senator had Trump derangement syndrome. [0:54] Cain and Hegseth appeared in front of the Appropriations Committee there, requesting $87 billion additional dollars. [1:01] $67 billion of that is for the Department of Defense and the ongoing Iran war. [1:07] Hegseth also revealed that the American taxpayer has already spent nearly $38 billion on the war so far, [1:12] which Trump continues to call a conflict. [1:14] Earlier today, Trump also reiterated his plans to destroy Iran's Pickaxe Mountain. [1:19] That's an underground facility south of Tehran, and where Israeli intelligence, we're told, [1:25] believes Iran has moved part of its nuclear stockpile. [1:28] Take a listen to Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy earlier today. [1:35] Now, what happens if we come home and end the blockade to the world? [1:43] Sir, Iran has the potential to continue to be a threat. [1:48] We need some hard answers and some straight talk. [1:53] What will happen, Pete? [1:56] Senator, I would agree with the chairman, but the likely outcome is they would try to impose their will on the waterways. [2:02] We need straight answers. [2:04] We need straight answers. [2:08] Do we have the ability to destroy whatever is underneath Pickaxe Mountain? [2:18] Senator, a lot of our capabilities are classified, but if anybody in the world can reach anything on God's green earth, [2:24] it's the United States military, the most powerful military in the world. [2:27] It's all about options and trade-offs. [2:30] New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, when it was her turn at the mic, [2:34] pressed Secretary Hegseth on his request for tens of billions of dollars to fund the ongoing war. [2:41] You are asking for unlimited money for bombs when people can't feed their families, [2:46] and I don't know how this administration intends to defend those decisions to the American people. [2:53] Not unlimited bombs, Senator. [2:54] I'm asking for the right bombs at the right time. [2:56] The hearing started with General Cain, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, [3:00] recognizing the U.S. service members killed in recent days. [3:04] Secretary Hegseth did not mention the dead in his opening comments. [3:07] Today, the Pentagon released the identity of the soldier killed during the disposal of an Iranian drone in Iraq. [3:13] He was 30-year-old Sergeant Michael Emanuel Swinton. [3:16] He died on Sunday. [3:18] General, thank you so much for joining us. [3:19] I want to play another exchange from the hearing and get your thoughts on it. [3:21] Take a listen. [3:22] Are Russia and China helping Iran, and if so, how? [3:33] Well, Senator, as the chairman alluded to, there's definitely adversary alignment, attempts to do so, [3:40] and there are many ways that we deter that, some of which are—and the depth and extent of it ought to remain classified, [3:47] and it should, but there are ways in which both of those countries are limiting—at different levels—enabling some of the things Iran is doing. [3:56] Yes. [3:58] Does that surprise you at all? [3:59] And what do you think China is doing to enable Iran? [4:04] Well, thanks, Jake. [4:05] It's great to be with you again. [4:06] No, I'm not surprised by this. [4:08] I mean, I think we should expect that these two principal competitors to us, Russia and China, [4:13] are going to take advantage of the situation and, for their own purposes, try to cast us in the best light [4:19] or make things as difficult as they can. [4:23] Russia certainly has a relationship with Iran linked to their operations in Ukraine. [4:29] And I think that China is primarily motivated by their economic objectives, [4:36] and they see that the challenge that this war has presented, not just us, but, you know, a variety of the globe here. [4:44] And they are going to make things as difficult as they can for us, [4:49] of trying to extricate ourselves from this or accomplish our objectives. [4:54] Israel believes that Iran moved advanced centrifuges and part of its stockpile [4:59] of highly enriched uranium to Pickaxe Mountain after the 12-day war last June. [5:05] President Trump said this today. Take a listen. [5:09] That's where the action is. [5:11] And we'll be hitting that area very, probably pretty soon. [5:16] And there's not a thing they can do about it. [5:18] You know, normally I wouldn't say that. [5:20] If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that. [5:23] But we'll be hitting that area pretty soon and very heavily. [5:28] Trump insisted that the U.S. had obliterated Fordow last summer and with it Iran's nuclear stockpile. [5:35] We know Pickaxe is a facility deep underground and it's in central Iran, [5:39] so a ground invasion would be quite difficult. [5:42] What do you think is the military's, the U.S. military's best chance to destroy that site, Pickaxe? [5:49] Well, yeah, thanks. [5:52] You know, certainly the way that we went out to Fordow with our massive ordnance penetrators, [5:58] that's a capability that's developed specifically for this threat. [6:02] Of course, we used a lot of those last summer. [6:05] I don't know exactly what the inventory might be, but we've got to be judicious with the employment of those weapons. [6:11] So I would imagine with this reporting, we're going to want to confirm everything that we can before we take action. [6:18] But certainly we have to be concerned about Iran and their commitment to a nuclear weapons program [6:24] and the time that they had after the strikes last summer to reposition resources [6:29] and try to reconstitute portions of their program. [6:34] Last night, the Pentagon spokesperson acknowledged, after lots of media reports and questions, [6:42] that nearly 100 service members have been injured just since July 7th. [6:46] There are dozens of unrecorded injuries in the military database. [6:50] It's called the Defense Casualty Analysis System. [6:53] I know you knew that. That's for our viewers. [6:54] Some are questioning why it seems the Pentagon is slow rolling this reporting, [6:59] slow rolling acknowledging the WIA, those who are wounded in action. [7:04] What do you think? Do you find it odd at all? [7:08] Well, again, I think it's important for the American public to appreciate the cost [7:14] that is being paid in these conflicts we're involved with. [7:17] And the system that you just identified is one that has been designed for that. [7:22] It should be updated when the numbers change, and it should be publicly available so American citizens do that. [7:28] I can't begin to explain why the Pentagon would be doing what they're doing. [7:33] I mean, certainly there probably are some concerns here about trying to prevent Iran from understanding the damage [7:42] that they may be inflicting on our servicemen and women or on our facilities. [7:48] That may be a reason for it. [7:49] But in my view, I think transparency here is really, really critical for the American people [7:55] to appreciate what's at stake here with this conflict that we're involved in. [7:59] Former SACCOM Commander General Joseph Votel, always good to have you, sir. [8:03] Thank you so much. [8:03] And as always, thank you so much for your service to this country.