This week we learned the cost of the war with Iran, so far, when Secretary of War Pete Hegseth testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Hegseth told the committee that the cost of the war is $37.5 billion through September 30 when the fiscal year ends. He also requested another $87 billion in “emergency” funding to replenish weaponry depleted in the war, continue fighting the war, and fund classified security initiatives in the Middle East.
Hegseth did not stop there. He also asked to increase the Pentagon’s base budget from $1 trillion to $1.5 trillion for FY 27. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said, “Well, that’s a $500 billion increase in the base budget and then another $37 billion. So, I think a lot of people aren’t quite seeing the whole picture here. They’re basically asking for a $537 billion increase in military spending, which I think is outrageous, extraordinary and threatens our country.”
The numbers are flabbergasting in light of the total national debt exceeding $39.5 trillion with annual interest payments of $1 trillion. Yet, equally offensive was Hegseth’s inability to defend his previous statements about the war. In heated exchanges with Democratic Senators, who questioned his past characterizations of the success of the U.S. military operation, the Secretary ducked, dodged, and returned fire fueled by all the testosterone he could muster.
Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) repeated Hegseth’s exact words from four months earlier when the Secretary stated confidently that Operation: Epic Fury was a “historic and overwhelming victory,” and that “Iran’s military had been rendered combat ineffective for years to come,” and that, “We have achieved every objective.” Then Ossoff asked, “Were those accurate statements?”
Hegseth responded with a non-answer about how it was an “historic victory” on behalf of the men and women who were engaged in the conflict. Clearly, what everyone watching knew, and what we know now, is that the “ineffective” Iranian military continues to launch missile and drone attacks against American assets, costing 16 service members their lives. In the month of July alone, approximately 100 service members have been injured, bringing the total so far to nearly 500.
In a separate exchange with Senator Kirstin Gillibrand (D-NY) about Hegseth’s hyperbole in relation to the success of the U.S. attacks on Iran, Gillibrand pointed to Hegseth’s claim that Iran’s ballistic missile capability was “depleted,” “decimated,” and “almost completely ineffective.” Gillibrand then asked, “So why are there missiles left to hit Jordan and result in the loss of life of our brave me and women?” Hegseth’s response in essence was that he wasn’t talking about the ballistic missiles Iran has hidden in mountains.
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) attempted to salvage Hegseth’s testimony while also appearing tough to folks back home. Kennedy asked the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Dan Caine and then Hegseth if the United States were to pull of Iran, would the Iranians toll the Strait of Hormuz. Caine gently protested that the question was a hypothetical, and that he didn’t know the answer. Kennedy insisted that that the question wasn’t hypothetical and pivoted to “Pete,” who dove in headfirst.
“…the likely outcome is that they would try to impose their will on the waterway in ways that world would not like.”
Kennedy interrupted, “Would they toll it?”
“Call it a toll, call it a fee, call it, call in an exchange, call is control, they would do something to try to hold it at issue,” Hegseth said.
What anyone failed to mention is that prior to the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, an international waterway, did not have a toll, was not controlled by Iran, and was free-flowing shipping lane.
What Kennedy knows is that the American public, Republicans included, are opposed to the war. Their willingness to support the war or to be convinced Iran was a major threat to the U.S. in undermined by Hegseth’s exaggerated and patently false statements. Americans see the casualties rising, oil back at $100 per barrel, and no clear end in sight.
In a tense exchange in which Hegseth suggested Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) was saying service members were failures, Peters summed up the sentiment of most Americans, “I will tell you how I used the word ‘failure,’ to their leaders. You sir are the failure; not the men and women who are on that frontline, not the men and women who hold up their honor with distinction, but if there is a lack of a winning strategy, they’re in harms way, their leaders have failed them…You don’t have a strategy. You don’t have a long-term plan to actually win this war.”