Feud EXPLODES between Jon Ossoff & Pete Hegseth over SIMPLE question

On day 14 of this conflict, Mr. Secretary, day 14, nearly five months ago, you stated that Iran's military had been, quote, destroyed and, quote, made combat ineffective.That was on day 14 of the war.Was that an accurate statement?

They didn't have a navy any longer, it's completely sunk.Their missiles were buried underneath a lot of their underground facilities and their defense industrial base has been almost completely destroyed.So as far as a military assessment of Iran's capabilities, it doesn't, didn't mean by any stretch of the imagination, absolute zero, but their capabilities are at the lowest level they've been at in a very long time.

Mr. Secretary, you stated that on day 14 of this conflict, in the second week of the conflict, you stated that Iran's military had been, quote, destroyed.and quote, made combat ineffective.Was that an accurate statement?Yes or no?

Iran's ability to challenge the United States of America at the level at which we're capable of.

That's not what I asked you, Mr. Secretary.You said on day 14 Iran's military had been quote, destroyed and quote, made combat ineffective.Yes or no?Was that an accurate statement?

What the American military has done to the Iranian military is a historic military feat and they're ineffective in that context.

Three weeks later, you declared victory.That was now nearly four months ago.Three weeks after you'd already said Iran's military was destroyed and combat ineffective, you said, quote, Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory.You said Iran's military had been rendered, quote, combat ineffective for years to come.And you stated we had, quote, achieved every single objective.Were those accurate statements?

It certainly was, on behalf of the men and women in uniform, a historic military victory over Iran.

Had Iran's military been rendered, quote, combat ineffective for years to come?

That was a statement that you made four months ago.They had 160 naval vessels, the Blue Water Navy, and they're gone.You need to answer the questions, Mr. Secretary.

Their air force is completely combat ineffective and they don't have a defense industrial base.

So describe to me a country that doesn't have an air force, a navy, or a defense industrial base and I will describe to you a country that does not have an effective military.It can lob missiles, but it's not a combat effective military.

Mr. Secretary, you stated four months ago that Iran's military had been rendered, quote, combat ineffective military.for years to come.Has Iran's military been, for the last four months, combat ineffective?

It's been set back not just years, but likely decades, considering it can't hold at the level it did before and not even close.It doesn't mean it doesn't have capabilities.

Mr. Secretary, you stated we had, quote, achieved every single objective.Was that an accurate statement four months ago?

The main objective of this was to ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.Their main sights were obliterated.We're watching over them and we're holding them at issue.If they don't give them up at the table, there's other ways we can take them away.

Early in the conflict on day three, Mr. Secretary, early in the conflict, day three, you said one of those core objectives was to, quote, destroy the missile threat.And as you restated on day five, to, quote, obliterate Iran's missiles and drones.Those were clearly and repeatedly stated core objectives of the campaign.which four months ago you declared had been completed victoriously with every single objective achieved.Were those objectives achieved four months ago?

No one ever stated that every single missile was gone.Ultimately, combat ineffective means they're not able to dig them out of their UGFs and shoot at them.It doesn't mean they don't have underground facilities where they put missiles in them and hold on to them because they're the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism.So we never expected they would stop having capabilities to shoot.The question is at scale against a opponent like the United States of America, which went toe -to -toe with them and Iran couldn't.

You stated on March 8th, day nine of the war, on 60 Minutes, you assured the American people of Iranian surrender.Does that remain your prediction?

Ultimately, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon to threaten the United States of America.That has been the objective and it remains so.

You will not answer whether your statement made on the 14th day of the war that Iran's military had been, quote, destroyed and made combat ineffective was a truthful statement to the American people as you sit here and ask for tens of billions more for the conflict.

But Senator's time has expired.But a historic and effective military campaign against the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world shows they never get a new weapon, Senator.Senator Peters is recognized.

That right there is why Jon Ossoff is one of the most effective communicators in the Democratic Party, and it puts on full display the ineffectiveness of someone like Pete Hegseth, who may love his little Fox News hits and his pre -screened interviews with the few right -wing journalists who are still allowed into the Department of Defense, but once he's actually confronted with a real question, and a real follow -up, he relies not on the facts, but on his own belligerence.If Hegseth's testimony shows us anything, it's that the goalposts will always always moved with this administration.You'll remember that last summer, the strike on Iran was supposed to have been to obliterate Iran's nuclear capabilities.Then six months later, we apparently needed to go in again to strike what we'd already obliterated previously.Then the goal was regime change, wherein we went from Ayatollah Khomeini to Ayatollah Khomeini.Then it was to control the Strait of Hormuz, which, by the way, was already open before the war even began.

On issue after issue, this administration has only moved the goalposts so that they can accomplish nothing and yet still miraculously give themselves credit for some non -existent success.The reality is that we didn't achieve some huge victory because if we did, and I'm going to use some basic logic here, we wouldn't still be there.When Spain beat Argentina this weekend at the World Cup and got the trophy, they didn't keep playing.You know why?Because when you win, you stop.The fact that we are still in Iran suggests that maybe, just maybe, we didn't win this war any more than when George Bush declared mission accomplished in 2003, only for the U .

S.to be at war for another decade.And in terms of Iran's military being rendered combat ineffective, if Pete Hegseth is telling the truth, why are we still fighting?If they were combat ineffective, wouldn't we be able to do anything we wanted?Wouldn't we have no problem taking over the Strait of Hormuz?No problem decimating their nuclear enrichment facilities, which we already promised happened?

Look, I'm not a military expert, I don't claim to be a military expert, but I do have common sense.And if all of these things that Pete Hexeth is swearing up and down are happening, then why are we still there, still fighting, still spending money, and still unable to achieve our goals?The reality is that Pete Hexeth is lying through his teeth because he is unqualified to run this department, just as Trump is unprepared for this war.And Hexeth's only tactic here is to just throw temper tantrums and wave around jingoistic platitudes like this.

The destruction of missiles, and yet the missiles that we saw hit recent targets are actually somehow more lethal, more deadly, more maneuverable than what we have seen in the past, so they're obviously improving their munitions.The Strait of Hormuz is still closed, reminding everybody it was open before the war.Prices were lower for everybody until the war, and it still remains closed.And of course, tragically, people, service members, our warfighters, who we care deeply about, are still dying.So what's different?

I think your characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless, and I think it's irresponsible, and I think it smears the sacrifice of the troops that are out there making on behalf of the American people to ensurethat Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.Shame on you and others who call this a quagmire and a failure and then you want to turn around and say you support the warfighter.Either you do or you don't.Is the nuclear material still there, sir?I can get you a ticket out to CENTCOM and talk to what those Americans are doing, how committed they are to this effort, and how they want to ensure that Iran never threatens their families with a nuclear weapon.

It is that simple.That's the kind of intensity that our warfighters have about making sure that Iran isn't capable of doing that.

Secretary Hagseth, if you listened to my comments, you would have heard me say how amazing our warfighters are.

I heard failure.

I heard exactly what you said.I will tell you how I used the word failure.Because I used the word failure to their leaders.You, sir, are the failure.Not the men and women who are on that front line.Not the men and women who hold up their honor with distinction.

But if there's a lack of a winning strategy, they're in harm's way, their leaders have failed them.And that's what's happening.We have political leadership, you.You don't have a strategy, you don't have a long -term plan to actually win this war.Win the war!The men and women are going to be able to do it, but they need to have leadership.

When will you show leadership?

When will you show leadership?Why don't you show some leadership and stand up for your fellow Democrats who won't fund the troops, who stand and play partisan politics while you don't give us the money.You want to stand up here and talk about the troops?You won't show any political courage to actually fund our department because you have Trump derangement syndrome and can't actually commit to anything meaningful.So I put this on you, Senator.

Yes, apparently when you confront a government that is sending American kids to die in a disastrous war with no plan, somehow that is an attack on the troops.Like, talk about a fucking coward.hiding behind kids that he's sending into a doomed war effort to hide his own incompetence.Sounds about fitting for an administration led by a guy who himself avoided service because of elusive bone spurs.So good on Jon Ossoff for holding Pete Hexess' feet to the fire, but no amount of gaslighting is going to change the reality on the ground, nor will it change what Americans can see with our own eyes.That this White House is only further bungling a war that they swore they would never get us into in the first place.

Before you go, I'm very excited to announce that I've written a new book titled The Day After How to Wheel Power in a Post -Trump World.The book explores what is, in my opinion, the single most important theme that we're dealing with in politics today and moving forward.power Thanks so much for supporting Independent Media.