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A heated Senate confrontation unfolded as Sen. Gary Peters challenged Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the U.S. approach to the Iran war and questioned claims of military success.

During the tense exchange, Peters pressed Hegseth on the results of the conflict, asking “Where is victory?” while arguing that previous statements about Iran’s military capabilities did not match the reality on the ground.

Hegseth pushed back, defending the Pentagon’s actions and accusing critics of failing to show support for U.S. troops and defense priorities.

The fiery Senate hearing highlights the growing political battle in Washington over the Iran conflict, military strategy, Pentagon leadership, and the future of U.S. foreign policy.

Watch the full clash between Gary Peters and Pete Hegseth as lawmakers debate war outcomes, troop funding, and America’s role in the Middle East.

#GaryPeters #PeteHegseth #IranWar #IranConflict #SenateHearing #Pentagon #USMilitary #IranWarNews #USForeignPolicy #DefenseSecretary #WashingtonPolitics #BreakingNews #WorldNews #Geopolitics #MilitaryNews

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Transcript
00:00I think your characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless and I think it's irresponsible and I
00:05think it smears the sacrifice of the troops that are out there making on behalf of the American people to
00:09ensure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Shame on you and others who call this a quagmire and a
00:15failure and then you want to turn around and say you support the warfighter. Either you do or you don't.
00:19Is the nuclear material still there? I can get you a ticket out to CENTCOM and talk to what those
00:23Americans are doing. How committed they are to this effort and how they want to ensure that Iran never threatens
00:27their families with a nuclear weapon. It is that that's the kind of intensity that our warfighters have about making
00:33sure that Iran isn't capable of doing that. Secretary Hayes if you listen to my comments you told you would
00:38have heard me say how amazing our warfighters are. I heard failure. The word heard. I heard exactly what you
00:43said. I will tell you how I use the word failure because I use the word failure to their leaders.
00:48You sir are the failure.
00:49Not the men and women who are on that front line. Not the men and women who hold up their
00:54honor with distinction. But if there's a lack of a winning strategy they're in harm's way. Their leaders have failed
01:01them. And that's what's happening. We have political leadership. You. You don't have a strategy. You don't have a long
01:07-term plan to actually win this war. Win the war. The men and women are going to be able to
01:12do it but they need to have leadership. When will you show leadership? When will you show leadership?
01:19Governor. Who will. I put it to the power of Democrats who won't fund the troops. Who stand and play
01:21partisan politics. Why you don't give us the money. You want to stand up here and talk about the troops.
01:26You won't show any political courage to actually fund our department because you have trump trump derangement syndrome and can't
01:32actually commit to anything meaningful. So I put this on you senator. Secretary Hayes if you have trillions. You have
01:37over a trillion dollars. You're asking for one and a half trillion dollars.
01:41It's not a question of money. It's a question of leadership and understanding what it takes
01:46to actually win. Political cowardice of Democrats who won't fund the troops.
01:52A major political showdown has erupted in Washington. U.S. Senate Democrats have blocked
01:59debate on the annual defense policy bill, arguing that Congress cannot move forward
02:05while President Donald Trump continues escalating the war against Iran. This is one of the biggest
02:12setbacks for the National Defense Authorization Act in recent years. The Senate voted 50 to 46
02:19against opening debate on the defense bill. The motion needed 60 votes to move ahead,
02:25but Democrats united to stop it. The legislation would authorize much of Trump's proposed
02:32$1.15 trillion military budget. But Democrats say this is not the time to approve
02:40such a massive defense package while military operations against Iran continue without greater
02:47congressional oversight. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer strongly opposed the bill,
02:53calling it a permission slip for the Trump administration to continue military action
02:58against Iran without proper checks from Congress. Schumer argued that lawmakers cannot debate America's
03:06biggest national security bill while ignoring what he called the nation's most urgent national
03:12security crisis. But the Iran war is only part of the controversy. Several Democrats have also
03:20objected to provisions that would deepen military and intelligence cooperation between the United States
03:27and Israel. One proposal would require the Pentagon to appoint a senior official dedicated to coordinating
03:34defense technology, weapons development, and military integration with Israel. Another controversial
03:41provision focuses on data fusion, combining intelligence from multiple sources into a single
03:47targeting system. Human Rights Watch has warned that such cooperation could expose the United States
03:54to intelligence gathered through what it describes as problematic mass surveillance programs. At the same time,
04:02civil liberty and anti-war organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, J Street,
04:09Code Pink, and Win Without War, urged senators to block the bill unless Congress first votes on
04:16restricting funding for what they describe as Trump's unauthorized war against Iran.
04:22Several Democratic senators, including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, Ed Markey,
04:30Peter Welch, also urged colleagues to oppose the legislation. Chris Van Hollen argued that the bill
04:37would create a bloated Pentagon budget, place no restraints on the Iran war, and quietly expand
04:43intelligence sharing with Israel without enough public debate. The Senate vote also highlights a broader
04:51political shift inside the Democratic Party, where support for Israel has declined sharply ahead of the
04:58November midterm elections. For now, the annual defense bill remains stalled, with deep divisions over Iran,
05:06Israel, and military spending turning one of Congress's most important pieces of legislation into a major political
05:14battleground. Subscribe to OneIndia and never miss an update. Download the OneIndia app now.
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