Pete Hegseth

And you saw a lot of that in the early days of the Iraq War, people gloating, people assuming that, you know, once the statue of Saddam in Fayda Square fell down, which, by the way, was, you know, pulled down by Marines from 1st Marine Division, that, you know, we'd be out there pretty quickly. And history showed that that was not the case.

And you saw a lot of that in the early days of the Iraq War, people gloating, people assuming that, you know, once the statue of Saddam in Fayda Square fell down, which, by the way, was, you know, pulled down by Marines from 1st Marine Division, that, you know, we'd be out there pretty quickly. And history showed that that was not the case.

And you saw a lot of that in the early days of the Iraq War, people gloating, people assuming that, you know, once the statue of Saddam in Fayda Square fell down, which, by the way, was, you know, pulled down by Marines from 1st Marine Division, that, you know, we'd be out there pretty quickly. And history showed that that was not the case.

Again, they're quite clearly on their back foot. Anybody who's been watching what has happened to them in the region in the last seven, eight months can see that. Yes. Hezbollah has suffered significant defeats.

Again, they're quite clearly on their back foot. Anybody who's been watching what has happened to them in the region in the last seven, eight months can see that. Yes. Hezbollah has suffered significant defeats.

Again, they're quite clearly on their back foot. Anybody who's been watching what has happened to them in the region in the last seven, eight months can see that. Yes. Hezbollah has suffered significant defeats.

Iran lost arguably its closest ally in the region in Bashar al-Assad, lost a key pipeline of weapons and supplies into Lebanon, which restricts their ability to help Hezbollah rebuild itself. They suffered some setbacks from some initial Israeli airstrikes at the end of last year. And I just want to be clear about those airstrikes is that they were very limited and they were very targeted.

Iran lost arguably its closest ally in the region in Bashar al-Assad, lost a key pipeline of weapons and supplies into Lebanon, which restricts their ability to help Hezbollah rebuild itself. They suffered some setbacks from some initial Israeli airstrikes at the end of last year. And I just want to be clear about those airstrikes is that they were very limited and they were very targeted.

Iran lost arguably its closest ally in the region in Bashar al-Assad, lost a key pipeline of weapons and supplies into Lebanon, which restricts their ability to help Hezbollah rebuild itself. They suffered some setbacks from some initial Israeli airstrikes at the end of last year. And I just want to be clear about those airstrikes is that they were very limited and they were very targeted.

And the Iranian response was effectively, you can say, looking at it. And again, I don't have any information if this is the case, but it was telegraphed. And so the Israelis knew it was coming. They were prepared. They had American support to help repel it.

And the Iranian response was effectively, you can say, looking at it. And again, I don't have any information if this is the case, but it was telegraphed. And so the Israelis knew it was coming. They were prepared. They had American support to help repel it.

And the Iranian response was effectively, you can say, looking at it. And again, I don't have any information if this is the case, but it was telegraphed. And so the Israelis knew it was coming. They were prepared. They had American support to help repel it.

It appears. So, again, though, we can't deny that they have suffered some significant setbacks. However, they still retain significant conventional military capabilities, an effective missile force. They have effective proxies in Iraq. They have a very effective drone program.

It appears. So, again, though, we can't deny that they have suffered some significant setbacks. However, they still retain significant conventional military capabilities, an effective missile force. They have effective proxies in Iraq. They have a very effective drone program.

It appears. So, again, though, we can't deny that they have suffered some significant setbacks. However, they still retain significant conventional military capabilities, an effective missile force. They have effective proxies in Iraq. They have a very effective drone program.

And those things, I think the Iranian missile force, more than even a potential nuclear program, and this is based on their experience in Iran-Iraq war, they very much view their missile force as their ultimate guarantor of regime and national survival. And again, that goes back to their experience in the Iran-Iraq war,

And those things, I think the Iranian missile force, more than even a potential nuclear program, and this is based on their experience in Iran-Iraq war, they very much view their missile force as their ultimate guarantor of regime and national survival. And again, that goes back to their experience in the Iran-Iraq war,

And those things, I think the Iranian missile force, more than even a potential nuclear program, and this is based on their experience in Iran-Iraq war, they very much view their missile force as their ultimate guarantor of regime and national survival. And again, that goes back to their experience in the Iran-Iraq war,

When Saddam Hussein, sometimes with indirect or direct American support, would use his Scud missiles and Tupolev bombers to effectively bomb and attack Iranian cities. And the Iranians didn't have really an effective strategy.

When Saddam Hussein, sometimes with indirect or direct American support, would use his Scud missiles and Tupolev bombers to effectively bomb and attack Iranian cities. And the Iranians didn't have really an effective strategy.