Trump won’t rule out boots on the ground; Hegseth slams ‘pearl-clutching’ allies

Washington: US War Secretary Pete Hegseth has assured nervous Americans that this is not the start of another “endless war” in the Middle East, pledging a swift campaign aimed at destroying Iran’s weaponry, not regime change or nation-building.

Hegseth also criticised the US’s “traditional allies”, accusing them of being hesitant and indecisive about using military force, in comments that were widely interpreted as being directed primarily at Britain, which dallied in allowing the US to use its bases for strikes on Iran.

Israel, which has conducted the strikes with the US, was a “capable partner” with a clear mission, Hegseth said – whereas other allies would “wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force”.

The European Union issued a statement on Sunday calling for “maximum restraint” and “the full respect of international law”. Australia and Canada, in similarly worded statements, said they supported US actions to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and continuing to pose a threat to peace.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump made his feelings known about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, telling the UK’s Daily Telegraph he was “very disappointed in Keir” for blocking the US from using the British island of Diego Garcia in the operation.

Starmer has relented and will allow the base to be used for “defensive” purposes. But he said the UK would not join in with “regime change from the skies”.

Hegseth’s news conference on Monday (US time) with the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Dan “Razin” Caine, marked the first time senior Trump administration officials fronted the cameras to answer questions about the strikes, which began late Friday night into Saturday morning.

Hegseth said the US’s objectives were to destroy Iran’s missile stocks and its capacity to produce them, destroy its navy and security infrastructure, and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

He objected to inquiries from reporters about the timeline Trump had set for the campaign – four to five weeks – calling it a “gotcha question”. But he was emphatic that it would not turn into an open-ended war.

“This is not Iraq, this is not endless … Our generation knows better and so does this president,” Hegseth said.

“He [Trump] 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 regardless of the views of “so-called international institutions”, the US military was unleashing “the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history” against the Iranian regime.

“We’re hitting them surgically, overwhelmingly and unapologetically. All on our terms, with maximum authorities,” he said.

“No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win and we don’t waste time, or lives.”

A fourth American service member was confirmed dead by US Central Command on Monday (Washington time). The person was wounded during Iran’s initial counter-attack and died from their injuries.

Three US fighter jets were also mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences in what the US described as “an apparent friendly fire incident”, but all six crew members ejected safely. Qatar said its air force had shot down two Iranian warplanes.

The US military says it has struck more than 1250 Iranian targets since the operation started, and that all 11 Iranian ships that were in the Gulf of Oman three days ago had been destroyed.

As the fighting in Iran continued for a third day, a new front in the war opened when the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, one of Iran’s principal allies in the Middle East, launched missiles and drones towards Israel.

Israel responded with sweeping airstrikes, which it said targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut and struck senior militants. Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli strikes have now killed 52 people in the country.

At a news briefing in Washington, Caine said more American manpower was heading to the region – specifically, in “tactical aviation” – though he declined to give further details. “We’re just about where we want to be in terms of total combat capacity and total combat power,” he said.

Hegseth did not rule out putting American boots on the ground, saying he would not signal what the US may or may not do in combat.

Trump made similar remarks to The New York Post. “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground,” he told the newspaper. “Every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it.”

Meanwhile, Trump made numerous remarks suggesting the scale of the campaign would ramp up. “We haven’t even started hitting them hard,” he told CNN. “The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon.”

Speaking at a military honours ceremony at the White House, Trump rejected the idea that he would quickly tire of the operation in Iran and seek an off-ramp.

He said that while he planned for a four-to-five-week campaign, the US had the capacity to fight for far longer, and he would do whatever it took. “I don’t get bored,” he said. “There’s nothing boring about this.”

With Reuters

Read more on the US-Israel-Iran war: