Pete Hegseth, the self-styled “Secretary of War,” and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine held forth on the supposed accomplishments of Operation Epic Fury before reporters at the Pentagon yesterday for the first time since March 19. Among other things, Hegseth openly conceded that Iranian ballistic missiles do not pose a threat to the US mainland, undercutting talk of the “imminent threat” repeated by the White House. “A lot has been shown to the world about what our allies would be willing to do for the United States of America when we undertake an effort of this scope on behalf of the free world. These are missiles that don’t even range the United States of America, they range allies and others,” Hegseth said. “And yet, when we ask for additional assistance or simple access, basing and overflight, we get questions or roadblocks or hesitations. And the president’s pointing out you don’t have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them. He’s simply pointing that out. And ultimately, it’ll be his decision of what that looks like after this is complete.”
“I didn’t mean it flippantly when I said, in the meantime we’ll negotiate with bombs,” Hegseth said. “Our job is to ensure that we compel Iran to realize that this new regime, this regime in charge, is in a better place if they make that deal. And so, we’ll continue. We’re working hand in hand, but the primary effort is a deal. We want that deal to be accomplished if at all possible. If not, then we’re prepared to continue.”
