Wednesday, April 29, 2026

The Point Is, To Agree With Me

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in his opening remarks this morning in front of the House Armed Services Committee for the administration’s requested $1.5 trillion defense budget in 2027, attacked members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, for not supporting the ongoing war against Iran:

“President Trump, unlike other presidents, has had the courage to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, and he's ironclad in that. We have the best negotiator in the world driving that deal. The biggest challenge, the biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless, and defeatist words of Congressional Democrats and some Republicans two months in, I remind you, two months in to a conflict. Lest I remind you, and my generation understands how long we were in Iraq, how long we were in Afghanistan, how long we were in Vietnam. Two months in on an existential fight for the safety of the American people, Iran cannot have a nuclear bomb. We are proud of this undertaking. I am proud that President Trump was have the courage to do it and I look forward to sharing more about what our troops have accomplished. So I thank you again for the opportunity to address this committee. I ask that God would continue to watch over our troops in harm's way. And those that have fallen are always in our memory, and we fight to ensure their legacy. Look forward to answering the questions of this committee.”
HEGSETH: Their nuclear facilities have been obliterated

SMITH: Whoa whoa whoa whoa. We had to start this war, you just said, because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you're saying it was completely obliterated?

HEGSETH: They had not given up their *ambitions*

SMITH: So Operation Midnight Hammer accomplished nothing of substance

HEGSETH: You're missing the point
And don’t make false equivalations!
Hegseth attacks Garamendi: "You stain the troops when you call this a quagmire two months in, handing propaganda to our enemies. Shame on you. Don't say I support the troops on one hand, and then a two-month mission is a quagmire. That's a false equivalation [sic]. Who are you cheering for here?"
(The wrong lesson from Vietnam: that we lost the war because we stopped “supporting the troops.” When “supporting the troop” actually means not sending them into pointless wars.)

(And this ain’t “Peter Pan,” Tinkerbelle. Clapping louder won’t make everything okay. Ye gods and little fishes, they are bad at this!)
"Why don’t you support the troops and quit asking do many gol-durned questions?” High gas prices support the troops!
Hegseth is asked if he considered the risk of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz ahead of time

Moulton: Did you consider this risk?

Hegseth: Of course, this department has looked at all aspects of this risk.

Moulton: And why did this department send the only minesweepers we had in the gulf to Singapore weeks before the war started.

Hegseth: We have lots of capabilities that you may or may not aware of at the classified level.
And yet, here we are.
Hegseth dismisses concerns over the Strait of Hormuz being closed because the US blockaded Iran’s blockade

Moulton: So they blockaded us, and then we blockaded their blockade—that's like if President Madison had said, well, the British just burned down Washington, but don't worry, we're going to burn it down as well.
Best analogy I’ve heard so far.
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