Hegseth defends protections for US troops as he is pressed on assault that killed six troopers
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed in the present day that the navy put in “maximum defensive posture” capabilities within the Middle East earlier than the war with Iran started in late February, however declined to particularly touch upon the defenses in Kuwait the place six US troopers had been killed in an Iranian drone assault.
Democratic Rep. Patrick Ryan pressed Hegseth on what defenses existed at the Shuaiba port in Kuwait the place six Army Reserve troopers had been killed on March 1 in a strike on a makeshift operations middle. NCS has previously reported that the operations middle was not fortified towards aerial threats like drones or missiles.
Patrick learn reporting from CBS News through which survivors of the assault mentioned there was not correct air protection at the place in Kuwait regardless of requests.
“Secretary Hegseth, that is obviously in direct contradiction to what you said from the Pentagon podium the next day. So are you saying that these soldiers, our soldiers, who survived this horrific attack, are lying?” Patrick mentioned.
“What I’m saying is before the commencement of the conflict, we put in maximum defensive posture we could, we moved … 7,500 troops off of the X based on the intel,” Hegseth mentioned.
“There’s a much larger picture at play here that included integrated air defenses, bunkers, moving people off the X to ensure they were not part of the target,” Hegseth continued. “We moved those troops and all across the theater, thousands of troops off the X, off of their bases because we knew what Iran was going to try to strike, we knew there could be a tragic moment where something could get through. Of course, that’s the consequence of conflict.”
Hegseth, when pressed later by Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio about Pentagon officers’ statements dismissing claims that the port in Kuwait hadn’t been adequately defended, described the road of questioning as “disparaging.”
“I’m not calling our troops liars, and I don’t know if what you’re representing is correct or not,” he mentioned. “I’ll take you at your word on that, but all I know is that we took every effort possible at the commencement of this campaign to ensure the defense of our troops.”