Hegseth insists the Iran conflict is ‘not endless’ while warning more casualties are likely
Washington, Mar 3 (AP) Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke Monday to widening concerns that the US-Israeli strikes in Iran could spiral into a protracted regional conflict by declaring: “This is not Iraq. This is not endless,” even as he warned that more American casualties are likely in the weeks ahead.
While the Trump administration has cited Iran’s nuclear ambitions as the chief concern to be addressed, officials increasingly are pointing to the threat from Iran’s ballistic missiles as a key reason to launch the attacks as well as an opportunity to take out the government’s leadership and the sense that negotiations around the nuclear programme have stalled.
Trump said Monday that Iran’s conventional missile programme “was growing rapidly and dramatically, and this posed a very clear, colossal threat to America and our forces stationed overseas.” Hegseth said at a separate press conference with Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the operation had a “decisive mission” to eliminate the threat of Iranian ballistic missiles, destroy the country’s navy and ensure “no nukes.” Trump, Hegseth and Caine have not suggested any exit plan or offered signs that the conflict would end anytime soon as the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast doubt on the future of the Islamic Republic and hurtled the region into broader instability. Caine said the biggest US military buildup in the Middle East in decades would only grow because the commander in the region “will receive additional forces even today.” “This is not a so-called regime-change war, but the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it,” Hegseth said. He added that it was “no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise.” Trump, however, in video statements released after the strikes began, urged members of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and military police to lay down their arms and for the Iranian people “to take back your country.” The conflict has spiraled into the wider region, with Iran and its allied armed groups launching missiles at Israel, Arab states and US military targets in the Middle East.
Six American troops have been killed in action, with Trump, Hegseth and Caine predicting more US casualties. The top defense leaders did not offer details on the circumstances of the troops’ deaths.
“We grieve with you, and we will never forget you,” Caine said of the troops killed and their family members. (AP) RD RD
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