Posted on 07/21/2026 3:01:51 PM PDT by Miami Rebel
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in a testy exchange on Iran and the state of the Strait of Hormuz.
At a Tuesday Senate hearing, Kennedy questioned both Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. John D. Caine on the Strait as tensions have escalated between the United States and Iran with the U.S. launching days of strikes and Iran continuing to target ships in the Strait.
“Will they put tolls on the Strait?” Kennedy asked Caine.
“I don’t know, sir. That’s a decision that’s a hypothetical and will depend on what happens in the future,” Caine answered.
“It’s not hypothetical. We’ve got a blockade to stop them,” Kennedy said.
The senator argued the situation is as “serious as four heart attacks and a stroke” when he asked about the possibility of ending the blockade and heading “home.”
“Iran has the potential to continue to be a threat and we’re going to we will need to prepare a little bit,” Caine said as Kennedy jumped in.
“Will they toll the Strait?” the senator asked.
Caine dismissed the question again as a hypothetical.
“Oh, it’s not hypothetical. We come home, it’s not going to be hypothetical. You know that, general, and I do too. And I appreciate your discretion, but we’re down to it. We need some hard answers and some straight talk,” Kennedy said.
He then turned to Hegseth with the same questions and at one point cut him off to stress that “we need straight answers.”
Check out the exchange below:
JOHN KENNEDY: What will happen, Pete?
PETE HEGSETH: Senator, I would agree with the chairman. The likely outcome is they would try to impose their will on the on the waterways in ways that the world would not like.
KENNEDY: Would they toll?
HEGSETH: Call it a toll, call it a fee, call it an exchange, call it it control. They would do something that would try to hold that issue, yes, sir.
KENNEDY: Would they try to commence development again of a nuclear warhead?
HEGSETH: Part of the reason President [Donald] Trump had to have the courage to do what he did after Midnight Hammer is that they didn’t give up their ambitions even though their nuclear sites had been obliterated. So this is a regime hell-bent on nuclear ambitions and —
KENNEDY: Guys, we need straight answers. We need straight answers. Do we have the ability to destroy whatever is underneath Pickaxe Mountain?
HEGSETH: Senator, a lot of our capabilities are classified, but if anybody in the world can reach anything on God’s green Earth, it’s the United States military, the most powerful military in the word. It’s all about options and trade-offs.
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Jim
People like him for his euphemisms. Other than that he’s more Rino.
That sounds like a real answer to me.
If we walk (or steam) away, that's what will happen, yes.
I'm not sure what Kennedy was after, but it's the true answer.
“KENNEDY: Guys, we need straight answers. We need straight answers. Do we have the ability to destroy whatever is underneath Pickaxe Mountain?
HEGSETH: Senator, a lot of our capabilities are classified, but if anybody in the world can reach anything on God’s green Earth, it’s the United States military,”
Trump is pretty much an open book. I can’t think of a President who has been more open and communicative.
If Kennedy wants more detail then it should be done in closed-door classified hearings. Or pick up the phone. That exchange was not helpful.
“I’m not sure what Kennedy was after,”
Attention.
Remember, this is the guy who voted with the most RINOS (12 others)in the Senate for Biden’s Afghan Resettlement. He’s entertaining but he is what I consider controlled opposition. Not MAGA.
This!
Hate to say “regime change” but that the only way to avoid most undesirable outcomes!
Israel and the Mossad “forgot” (/s) to tell Trump that “weakened” Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have many friends——and would be supplied with military hardware, precursor chemicals, and logistical support by an international network involving state actors and foreign front companies, particularly from China, Russia, and localized proxies.
Intelligence indicates Chinese entities supply the IRGC with precursor chemicals (such as sodium perchlorate) for ballistic missile fuel and dual-use components for drone manufacturing.
Russia and Iran operate a self-reinforcing exchange, where Russia supplies military hardware, aviation parts, and technological support in return for Iranian-made drones.
The US Treasury’s “Office of Foreign Assets Control” tracks and sanctions foreign aviation, transport, and front companies operating out of jurisdictions like Hong Kong, Italy, and Nigeria that act as intermediaries to obscure IRGC procurement.
Even an idiot would notice the Iranian government appears stronger than ever.
It diverts massive domestic resources like food and oil revenues directly to the IRGC to sustain their fighting forces and domestic operations. In conflict zones like Syria, the IRGC sustains its logistical footprint and fighters through regional corridors managed by allied militias and covert transport firms.
I agree and it must be done.
“Do we have the ability to destroy whatever is underneath Pickaxe Mountain?”
I think that Hegseth should have answered that without the God’s green earth talk.
If we haven’t bombed it yet, why not?
Here’s what President Trump said today:
We would strike it “pretty soon, and very heavily.”
“There’s not a thing they can do about it. Normally I wouldn’t say that. If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that.”
OK, so now we ARE going to bomb it. According to the Institute for Science and International Security, the mountain itself rises nearly 5,300 feet above sea level, and the facility is estimated to be buried more than 300 feet below it. The Institute says that a ground attack would have a higher probability of success than an aerial attack.
My take is that the Administration has been doing everything it can to avoid landing servicemen in Iran but that it’s being more and more likely that we will.
This is Mediaite trying to make it sound like a GOP attack on Hegseth. It is not.
Sen Kennedy got the answer he was searching for. The answer just had too many words for Mediaite to figure out.
Yes. Iran will do anything to disrupt traffic in the strait if we withdraw. It’s all they got left.
EC
Kennedy is the Gomer Pyle of the Senate.
“This is Mediaite trying to make it sound like a GOP attack on Hegseth. It is not.”
That’s what they do. Every slop article, every time.
ONLY an idiot would say the IRGC is stronger than ever. The schisms in the regime are massive and their capabilities are greatly diminished. They are hiding underground.
“””JOHN KENNEDY: What will happen, Pete? “””
Hey, grandpa, that’s not how you address the Secretary of War.
“Even an idiot would notice the Iranian government appears stronger than ever.”
What a bizarre, evidence-free assertion.
Agreed. I can see part of Kennedy’s position / point, but, if we have a secret or controversial way to “end” Iran’s use of Pickaxe Mountain without using nukes, we sure as heck don’t want to tip the Iranians off so they can devise defenses or work-arounds.
Hegseth probably should have replied that he would be glad to meet privately with Senators considered “safe” with such information.
“My take is that the Administration has been doing everything it can to avoid landing servicemen in Iran but that it’s being more and more likely that we will.”
Yeah I would not be surprised if one thing dragging this out is some sort of continual AI/human deep dive on how to put the least amount of boots to meet the objectives.
Given these muslim crazies I also see no way to achieve success without going in there and toppling what’s left of the government. Trump likely gambled on a quick win or otherwise he would have waited until after the midterms.
Since he’s in this deep he needs to finish it successfully. Many won’t love him no matter he does anyway. His meeting with Lebanon today tells me he also wants to finally deal with Hezbollah.
He is probably thinking more about his legacy more than the midterms and the temporary price of oil.
The Iranian government is in fact incredibly vulnerable. You just haven’t tried figuring out how and why.
I could tell you, but it will be much more convincing if you piece it together itself. It does require some thinking out of the box, however, and, sorry, I don’t mean at this moment to insult you, but I’ve seen zero from you on the subject of Iran to indicate thinking out of the box. Try it. It’s “fun”, to quote a certain (fictional) James T. Kirk. ;-)
Note that I at this point could make the same criticism of the President and his team, even counting the diverging opinions within his team. I don’t see much thinking out of the box, or recognition of major but slightly unorthodox capabilities just waiting to be tapped.
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