{"id":13985,"date":"2026-05-01T04:34:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:04:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/?p=13985"},"modified":"2026-05-01T04:34:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T01:04:05","slug":"amid-mounting-costs-and-internal-dissent-us-officials-deny-iran-war-is-a-quagmire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/?p=13985&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Amid Mounting Costs and Internal Dissent, US Officials Deny Iran War is a &#8216;Quagmire&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    <title>US War on Iran: A Costly Quagmire Denied Amidst Growing Criticism<\/title><\/p>\n<header>\n<h1><a href=\"#\" title=\"Read more about US-Iran conflict\">Amid Mounting Costs and Internal Dissent, US Officials Deny Iran War is a &#8216;Quagmire&#8217;<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<article>\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON \u2013<\/strong> As the US-Israel war on Iran continues to drain American resources, with the Pentagon estimating a staggering cost of at least $25 billion, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vehemently denied that the conflict is a \u201cquagmire.\u201d In a contentious House hearing, Hegseth astonishingly claimed that critics of the operation within the US posed a greater threat than Iran itself, revealing the depth of internal division plaguing Washington&#8217;s war efforts.<\/p>\n<p>The financial burden on American taxpayers continues to escalate, primarily from munitions, operations, maintenance, and equipment replacement. Jules Hurst III, the Pentagon\u2019s chief financial official, confirmed the estimated $25 billion cost, which continues to rise for a conflict that former President Donald Trump had optimistically predicted would last merely four to six weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth, appearing before the House armed services committee alongside Gen Dan Caine, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, faced intense pressure to articulate a clear strategy. Instead, he requested a colossal $1.5 trillion military spending approval, while simultaneously lambasting some lawmakers as \u201cthe biggest challenge\u201d to the war effort. \u201cThe biggest adversary we face at this point are the reckless, feckless and defeatist words of congressional Democrats and some Republicans,\u201d Hegseth declared, a statement notably absent from his prepared remarks, underscoring the administration&#8217;s defensive posture.<\/p>\n<p>The administration\u2019s claims of success are increasingly challenged by its own officials and the public. Protesters outside the hearing branded Hegseth and Caine as \u201cwar criminals,\u201d reflecting widespread public discontent. Furthermore, Trump himself resorted to posting an AI-generated image of himself with a weapon and the caption \u201cNO MORE MR. NICE GUY\u201d on social media, coupled with threats towards Iran, signaling a desperate attempt to project strength amidst a faltering campaign.<\/p>\n<p>California Democrat John Garamendi sharply criticized the administration\u2019s \u201castounding incompetence,\u201d which he argued has led to \u201cpolitical and economic disaster at every level.\u201d Garamendi asserted, \u201cThe president has gotten himself and America stuck in a quagmire of another war in the Middle East,\u201d highlighting the administration&#8217;s repeated strategic failures in the region. Hegseth&#8217;s incensed reaction to the term \u201cquagmire\u201d only served to underscore the sensitivity surrounding the perceived failure of the operation.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to the controversy, the strike on a school in the Iranian city of Minab during the initial phase of the joint US-Israeli campaign, which Iranian officials report killed at least 168 people, mostly children, remains unaddressed. Despite early Pentagon promises of an investigation, Hegseth and Caine had not been compelled to address this atrocity under oath until Wednesday, leaving the world with the impression that the US simply \u201cdon\u2019t care,\u201d as Congressman Adam Smith of Washington pointed out.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing exposed deep partisan rifts. While Republicans largely supported the administration\u2019s budget demands, Democrats questioned the responsible management of a 50-60% spending increase and challenged the administration\u2019s diplomatic isolation. Smith criticized the president for \u201cgratuitously insulting\u201d allies, even amidst a war where NATO\u2019s support is sought, further illustrating the US\u2019s self-inflicted diplomatic wounds.<\/p>\n<p>A tense exchange also occurred when Hegseth claimed Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities had been \u201cobliterated,\u201d a statement contradicted by his earlier assertion that the war was necessary due to an \u201cimminent threat\u201d from nuclear weapons. This inconsistency led Smith to question the effectiveness of \u201cOperation Midnight Hammer,\u201d suggesting it accomplished \u201cnothing of substance.\u201d Hegseth\u2019s evasive response, \u201cYou\u2019re missing the point,\u201d did little to quell doubts.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Hegseth\u2019s denials and Republican support, the broader picture remains a stalemate. With three US aircraft carriers stationed in the Middle East for the first time in over two decades and Trump rejecting Iran\u2019s offer to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the prospect of a prolonged and costly conflict looms large. The inability of Democrats to pass war powers resolutions means the president continues to operate without congressional authorization, leaving the US entangled in a conflict with no clear end in sight.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<footer>\n<p>#USIranWar #MiddleEastConflict #Quagmire #USDefenseSpending #Hegseth #TrumpWar #Iran #DiplomaticIsolation #WarCrimes #PentagonCosts<\/p>\n<\/footer>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US War on Iran: A Costly Quagmire Denied Amidst Growing Criticism Amid Mounting Costs and Internal Dissent, US Officials Deny Iran War is a &#8216;Quagmire&#8217; WASHINGTON \u2013 As the US-Israel war on Iran continues to drain American resources, with the Pentagon estimating a staggering cost of at least $25 billion, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fajr.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}