Hegseth says Iran is not a ‘Forever War’, defends request for USD200b in additional funding
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The news: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the Pentagon’s request to Congress for USD200 billion ($284.03) in additional funding “could move” and that “it takes money to kill bad guys.”
The context: Hegseth made the comments at a Pentagon press briefing on Thursday morning (11pm AEDT) after being asked to confirm the figures. “We’re going back to Congress and our folks there to ensure that we’re properly funded for what’s been done, for what we may have to do in the future” and to “refill stockpiles” Hegseth said.
The USD200 billion funding request for first reports by the Washington Post on Wednesday.
When asked about Israel’s strikes on Iran’s South Pars gas field, Hegseth said “we hold the cards.”
“We have objectives. Those objectives are clear. We have allies pursuing objectives as well, and the truth speaks for itself…the United States military controls the fate of that country. Iran has the ability to make the right choice” he continued.
During the briefing Hegseth pushed back on comments that the war risked becoming a military “quagmire”, stating that the US was winning decisively but declining to provide a specific time frame for the conflict.
“The media here — not all of it, but much of it — wants you to think, just 19 days into this conflict, that we’re somehow spinning toward an endless abyss or a forever war or quagmire,” Hegseth said at a news conference on Thursday morning. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Hegseth also took the opportunity to criticise “our ungrateful allies in Europe”, as EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss the Middle East situation.
Meanwhile, former head of US counterterrorism, Joe Kent, who resigned over the war in Iran earlier this week is under investigation by the FBI for allegedly leaking classified information.
The sources: Department of War , CNBC, FT, Bloomberg
