00:00Mr. Secretary, you and I agree that Iran is a national security threat to us and our allies.
00:04Now, earlier you called us feckless for questioning your war.
00:08Do you think Congress was smart or feckless when it failed to ask tough questions of the Bush administration and
00:14gave them a blank check for Iraq?
00:17Well, if you're trying to compare this war to the Iraq war, which the president is the first one to
00:22call a stupid war, then it's a false comparison.
00:25Okay, well, probably a good idea to ask tough questions.
00:28So let me just ask you a few questions.
00:29Did you advise the president that we should attack Iran?
00:33We were, first of all, in this position in the cabinet.
00:36We never talk about what we would advise the president to do or not.
00:39Do you think the president or you deserve more?
00:41I've been in every meeting.
00:42I understand that, Mr. Secretary.
00:43With the chairman and everybody else as those decisions were made.
00:46And he got every perspective possible when it came to this.
00:49I'm just asking what your perspective is.
00:51Are you afraid to take ownership of this?
00:52Do you think it was a good idea or not?
00:54As I have consulted the president, do I think it's a good idea to confront a nuclear bomb?
00:59To start this war?
01:00In the hands of the...
01:00Imagine what the world would look like right now if Iran had a nuclear weapon.
01:04Okay, so let's just...
01:04Just imagine.
01:05Which, by the way, every other...
01:06If they had one, which the Obama deal was going to allow them to do.
01:08Including the first Trump administration.
01:10If they had one.
01:10Prevented them from having a nuclear weapon.
01:12So, listen, how is this war going?
01:14Do you think we're winning?
01:16Militarily, on the battlefield, it's been an astounding military success.
01:19But are we winning the war?
01:21Absolutely.
01:21Okay, so do you call Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz winning?
01:25Well, I would say the blockade that we hold that doesn't allow anything to come in or
01:30out of Iranian ports...
01:31Okay, so we've blockaded their blockade.
01:34So they blockaded us, and then we blockaded their blockade.
01:37That's like saying, tag, you're it.
01:39Or, you know, if President Madison had said, well, the British just burned down Washington,
01:43but don't worry, we're going to burn it down as well.
01:45Now, Chairman Cain, did the military have plans for the idea that Iran might blockade the
01:52Strait?
01:53Sir, thanks for the question.
01:57I'll answer it this way.
02:00You know, in this job, I have to maintain trust with a variety of constituents.
02:06Okay, I'm just asking if the military had plans.
02:08Yes, sir.
02:08As always, my point in this is, as I explain the role, my point in this is we always offer
02:13a full range of military options that are carefully considered with the associated risks with
02:20those options and the considerations therein.
02:23So, Mr. Secretary, did you consider this risk?
02:27Of course.
02:28This department has looked at all aspects of this risk.
02:31And because this department looks...
02:32But then why did you send the minesweepers, the only minesweepers we had in the Gulf,
02:35to Singapore weeks before the war started?
02:37We have lots of capabilities that you may or may not be aware of at the classified level.
02:43By the way, would the Trump-class battleships have helped with this?
02:46You're talking about a prospective future battleship, which we welcome in the fleet.
02:51Okay, so you're supportive of the battleships?
02:54Yes, sir.
02:55Okay.
02:56How much has Iran profited from your administration lifting the sanctions on Iran when you started
03:03this war?
03:04I can tell you Iran is financially devastated right now.
03:07Okay, well, they've earned about $14 billion.
03:10Operational economic fury.
03:11They're at a point where, between the blockade and what we've done to them militarily, remember,
03:15they don't have a navy, they can't contest the blockade.
03:17Okay.
03:18Between what we've done to the militarily and financially, they're at a place where they
03:21have very few options.
03:22How many Chinese missiles can they buy for $14 billion?
03:25Does that sound like winning?
03:28They're not.
03:30We're insuring, and they're not buying Chinese missiles.
03:32Okay.
03:33You know, at the end of the day, this also has a cost to us.
03:36If you, if, let's say this war costs $100 billion, I mean, you've already said, give
03:40us more time.
03:41It's only been two months.
03:42It could go on for 20 years like Iraq and Afghanistan.
03:45Let's just say it costs $100 billion.
03:47What is that to the average American taxpayer?
03:48Do you have any idea?
03:49Well, unlike foolish previous administrations, it won't go on.
03:53I'm just asking.
03:53For years and decades.
03:55But let's just say it's $100 billion.
03:57Sitting in this position, it's hard to imagine how it's allowed those things to happen.
03:59You were a part of that war.
04:00You know the answer to that?
04:00So was I.
04:01And I never knew what the NSA clearly was.
04:02I'm just asking if you know what your war costs the average American taxpayer.
04:06What is the cost of Iran having a nuclear weapon that they wield over?
04:09I'm just asking if you know the cost of the average American taxpayer.
04:11I'm asking you what the cost would be of that.
04:13So for the American taxpayers out there, my constituents, some of the constituents you wanted to represent
04:17in Minnesota, I'm just wondering if they have an extra $600 lying around to pay for your war.
04:23I think that's just a question that we ought to ask.
04:25Now, quickly, on March 13th in a press conference, you said we will give them no quarter, no mercy.
04:32In order for no quarter or no survivors is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
04:37You understand that's murder.
04:38Do you stand by that statement?
04:41The Department of War fights to win.
04:43And we ensure that our war fighters have the rules of engagement necessary to be as effective as humanly possible.
04:48You called Democratic members of Congress to be tried for sedition for reminding our troops to follow the law.
04:53But when you tell them to commit a war crime, you stand by yourself.
04:57For insinuating that the laws that we're giving them are unlawful.
04:59Gentlemen, time's expired.
05:00You're not ready.
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