One word has emerged to describe Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s performance in leading the Pentagon. The word is incompetent.
Hegseth did little to inspire confidence at a House hearing when he sounded more like a cult member than a government official by repeating hopes and debating points while failing to provide answers to basic questions about the war in Iran.
Consider this conversation between Hegseth and Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) at the beginning of the hearing.
Hegseth talks about Iran being “determined to get a nuclear weapon and get them to a point where they have a seat at the table to give it up, in a way that they haven’t had yet and they should never have.”
Smith asked, “So they’re not broken yet?”
Hegseth continued, “We’re not there yet, well, their nuclear facilities have been destroyed. They’re buried underground and we’re monitoring them. 24 7. So we know where any nuclear material is.”
Smith interrupted: “Quick second here. We had to start this war, you just said 60 days ago. Because the nuclear weapon was an imminent threat. Now you say it’s been completely obliterated.”
Hegseth elaborated on the talking points: “They had not given up their nuclear ambitions and they had a conventional shield of thousands.”
Smith replied, “So Operation Midnight Hammer accomplished nothing of substance. It left us in exactly the same place as before.”
Hegseth claimed that Iran is using the North Korean strategy, and “President Trump saw Iran at its weakest moment. Took action to ensure that only the United States of America could work with our Israeli partners.”
Smith reminded Hegseth that Iran still has the nuclear material.
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Things didn’t get better for Hegseth, as he was later called incompetent.
