Lindsey Graham Blows Up at Hegseth Hearing on Iran War: ‘No Wonder This Damn Thing Is Going Nowhere!’
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) lost it on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine during a hearing on Tuesday, at one point exclaiming, “No wonder This damn thing is going nowhere!”
It all started when Graham brought up a CBS report from the day before with exclusive reporting that Pakistan was allowing Iran to land its military planes at Pakistani air bases in a possible bid to protect them from American strikes.
As Hegseth and Caine returned to Capitol Hill for a budget hearing, Graham took the opportunity to question the pair about the CBS report, raising concern about Islamabad as a mediator for peace talks if it is indeed helping Iran.
“Are you aware of reports that Pakistan are allowing their bases to be used to park Iranian aircraft, General Caine?” Graham asked.
“Sir, I’ve seen one report on that,” Caine said.
“Well, is it accurate?” Graham pressed.
As Caine struggled to answer the question, Graham asked, “Let me just say, do you agree that if it is accurate, that is sort of inconsistent with it being a peace mediator?
When Caine declined to comment on it, Graham turned to Hegseth.
“Secretary Hegseth, if the mediator is allowing reconnaissance aircraft from Iran to be parked in Pakistani air bases, do you think that’s consistent with being a fair mediator?
“Again, I wouldn’t want to get in the middle of these negotiations,” Hegseth began before Graham cut him off.
“Well, I do!” Graham retorted. “I want to get in the middle of these negotiations. I don’t trust Pakistan as far as I can throw ’em. If they actually do have Iranian aircraft parked in Pakistan bases to protect Iranian military assets, that tells me we should be looking maybe for somebody else to mediate. No wonder this damn thing is going nowhere!”
He added, “I appreciate all you’ve done. I’m very supportive of it, but when it comes to Pakistan and China, enough already!”
Watch above via C-SPAN.
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