Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was visibly upset as a Democratic lawmaker questioned the cost of the Iran war during the first hearing since the conflict started.
Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), an Iraq war veteran, asked Hegseth if he advised President Donald Trump to attack Iran during the House Armed Services Committee hearing.
“I’m just asking what your perspective is. Are you afraid to take ownership of this? Do you think it was a good idea or not?” Moulton asked.
“When I as I’ve consulted the president, do I think it’s a good idea to confront a nuclear bomb in the hands of the — imagine what the world would look like right now if Iran had a nuclear weapon” Hegseth said.
Moulton pressed Hegseth again.
“How is this war going, do you think we’re winning?” Moulton asked.
Hegseth responded with “absolutely.” But Moulton wasn’t convinced.
“So do you call Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz winning?” Moulton asked, pushing back again on Hegseth’s claims.
“How much has Iran profited from your administration lifting the sanctions on Iran when you started this war?” Moulton said, questioning the financial impacts of the conflict.
“I can tell you Iran is financially devastated right now,” Hegseth claimed.
“OK, well they’ve earned about $14 million,” Moulton said. “Does that sound like winning?”
Hegseth got defensive over the line of questioning and started blaming previous administrations for previous wars in a fiery back and forth with the lawmaker.
“I’m just asking if you know what your war cost the average American taxpayer,” Moulton said.
The Trump administration official argued that the concern of Iran having nuclear power outweighed the cost of the military operation.
“So for the American taxpayers out there, my constituents, some of the constituents you wanted to represent in Minnesota, I’m just wondering if they have an extra 600 bucks lying around to pay for your war,” Moulton said. “I think that’s just a question that we ought to ask now quickly, on March 13th, in a press conference, you said we will give them no quarter, no mercy in order for no quarter or no survivors is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. You understand that’s murder. Do you stand by that statement?”
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