Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and House lawmakers got into a heated debate over the Iranian drone attack that killed six American service members in Kuwait in the early hours of the war.
It was only hours into the war when an Iranian drone hit the tactical operation center in Port of Shuaiba, Kuwait, killing six and injuring more than 20 others. Some of the service members who survived the attack raised concerns that the center did not have the necessary defenses to protect from the threat of drones, which was the subject of the dispute during Wednesday’s hearing.
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Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) asked Hegseth if it’s accurate that the site in Port of Shuabia was on a department list of possible Iranian targets, to which the secretary responded by asking if he’s “going to play gotcha?”
The congressman also accused Hegseth of having “downplayed” the incident in its aftermath.
Hegseth, a day after the strike occurred, told reporters: “You have air defenses and the lot’s coming in and you hit most of it. And we absolutely do. We have incredible air defenders. Every once in a while you might have one. Unfortunately, we call it a squirter that, that makes its way through. And in that particular case it happened to hit a – a tactical operation center. That was — that was fortified. But these are powerful weapons.”
Ryan, in the hearing, referenced comments from a surviving soldier who told CBS News, when asked to describe the degree of fortification, “I mean, I would put it in the none category. From a drone defense capability … none.”
Another injured service member told the outlet that, “Painting a picture that ‘one squeaked through’ is a falsehood.”
Hegseth responded to Ryan’s question about whether he downplayed the threat, saying, “What I’m saying is before the commencement of the conflict, we put in maximum defensive posture we could,” and added, “we moved 7,500 troops off the X based on the intel,” which means moving them away from a possible target.
When Ryan demanded he “stop” speaking, Hegseth retorted, “Because you yell, don’t make you right.”
Rep. Chris DeLuzio (D-PA) asked about the strike as well during his questioning shortly after, and the secretary accused them both of “disparaging me that I don’t care about the passing of our troops.”
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Following the back-and-forth with DeLuzio, Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) sought to settle the tension: “I understand but he controls the time, you control your answer.”
The six service members killed were: Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39; and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20. Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54.
