Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has given his first press briefing since the U.S. military launched Operation Epic Fury in Iran.

Hegseth was joined by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, to give an update on the ongoing military conflict in Iran.

The Secretary of War stated this operation is not like Iraq but rather has a clear objective.

CBS provided further details on the press conference:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said early Monday the U.S. military operation in Iran is “laser-focused” as the U.S. and Israeli military operation against Iran continued into a third day.

“Destroy Iranian missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure and they will never have nuclear weapons,” said Hesgeth, who was joined by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.

Hegseth declined to give a timeframe for the operation, but he insisted it would not be “endless.”

“This is not Iraq,” Hegseth said. “This is not endless. I was there for both — our generation knows better, and so does this president. He called the last 20 years of nation-building wars dumb and he’s right. This is the opposite. This operation is a clear, devastating, decisive mission: Destroy the missile threat, destroy the navy, no nukes.”

Hegseth said there are no U.S. military “boots on the ground” in Iran right now, but said he would not “go into the exercise of what we will or will not do” in the future.

Here’s a clip:

One of the highlights was when Hegseth called out an NBC News reporter:

The Hill reported that Hegseth noted there are currently no boots on the ground:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday left the door open for boots on the ground in Iran, but said the United States would not be pulled into an “endless” war similar to Iraq.

Hegseth was asked during a press briefing whether the U.S. currently had troops in Iran.

“No, but we’re not going to go into the exercise of what we will or will not do,” he said.

“I think it’s one of those fallacies for a long time that this department or presidents or others should tell the American enemies, by the way, here’s exactly what, here’s exactly how long we’ll go, here’s exactly how far we’ll go, here’s what we’re willing to do and not do — it’s foolishness,” he added.

Hegseth referenced his experience fighting in Iraq, saying Trump would not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Take a look:

Watch the full press briefing here:

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
 

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