Pentagon's Hegseth defends Iran war, says it is not a quagmire

WASHINGTON: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to defend the Iran ​war in fiery remarks to Congress on ‌Wednesday, saying it was not a quagmire and attacking Democratic lawmakers as “feckless” for criticizing the unpopular conflict.

Hegseth was ​testifying before Congress for the first time ​since the U.S. and Israel launched a ⁠war against Iran on February 28 that ​has led to a surge in gasoline prices.

Trump’s popularity has taken a pounding since the conflict began and just 34% of Americans approve of the U.S. ​conflict with Iran, down from 36% in ​mid-April and 38% in mid-March, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

Democrats ‌peppered ⁠Hegseth with questions about the open-ended conflict, with Rep. John Garamendi of California calling it a “quagmire” and “political and economic disaster at every level.”
Hegseth ​responded angrily.

“You ​call it ⁠a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies? Shame on you for that ​statement,” Hegseth said in response to Garamendi, ​and slammed “reckless, ⁠feckless, and defeatist” Congressional Democrats.

Hegseth invoked the US’s long and painful deployments in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan – wars he previously criticized bitterly – as a benchmark for endurance. The war against Iran, he said, was “an existential fight for the safety of the American people”, and the administration was “proud of this undertaking”.

“The president has gotten himself and America stuck in a quagmire of another war in the Middle East,” Garamendi said. “He is desperately trying to extricate himself from his own mistakes; it is in America’s, and indeed the world’s, interest he succeed in that.”

Hegseth was incensed by the statement, particularly around the invocation of another quagmire in the Middle East, and attacked the congressman for his speech.

“Who are you cheering for here? Who are you pulling for?” Hegseth shot back. “Your hatred for President Trump blinds you to the truth of the success of this mission and the historic stakes that the president is addressing that the American people support.

“You call it a quagmire, handing propaganda to our enemies? Shame on you for that statement,” Hegseth added.