{"id":6784,"date":"2026-03-06T15:31:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T15:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/6784\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T15:31:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T15:31:21","slug":"iran-is-not-another-iraq-war-top-pentagon-official-assures-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/6784\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran is &#8216;not another Iraq War,\u2019 top Pentagon official assures Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"&quot;byline&quot;\">by George Headley, Cronkite News <br \/>March 6, 2026<\/p>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2013 At a contentious\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/armedservices.house.gov\/calendar\/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=6408\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">House Armed Services Committee hearing<\/a>\u00a0with the Pentagon\u2019s No. 3 official, lawmakers in both parties vented frustration Thursday over being kept out of the loop on major military operations.<\/p>\n<p>Many aired concerns that the 5-day-old conflict with Iran will deplete stockpiles, lead to a prolonged war and distract attention from other U.S. adversaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.war.gov\/About\/Biographies\/Biography\/article\/1230279\/elbridge-a-colby\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Elbridge Colby<\/a>, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, assured lawmakers the conflict will end far more quickly than the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, which lasted nearly nine years. And he asserted there\u2019s a \u201cvery plentiful supply\u201d of munitions.<\/p>\n<p>Colby \u2013 avoiding the term \u201cwar\u201d in referring to the hostilities with Iran \u2013 has long argued for limiting U.S. commitments in the Middle East to focus resources on deterring China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre we at war with Iran?\u201d Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., asked at one point \u2013 a question at the heart of war powers resolutions that failed Wednesday in the Senate and Thursday in the House.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019re in a military action at this point. I\u2019ll leave it to Congress and lawyers, etc., from the administration to determine,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m not the right person to weigh in on exactly the criteria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republicans used the hearing to express support for Trump\u2019s decision to attack Iran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis action should have been done a long time ago to restore deterrence. I can\u2019t think of a better group of folks to target than the ayatollah and his henchmen,\u201d said\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bacon.house.gov\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Congress kept in the dark<\/p>\n<p>Democrats in particular have accused the administration of failing to warn Americans in the Gulf region or plan for their evacuation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That was one of many critiques lawmakers aired.<\/p>\n<p>Many found it infuriating to learn that President Donald Trump tipped off U.S. energy company executives before U.S. forces captured Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3. The former president of Venezuela is awaiting trial in New York on drug trafficking charges.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If Iran&#39;s nuclear missile program was &quot;obliterated,&quot; as Donald Trump claimed, why is it being used as part of the justification for this war? U.S. servicemembers have paid the price with their lives. The President owes this country the truth. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OyF33DA8KV\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/OyF33DA8KV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenMarkKelly\/status\/2029257186422010365?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">March 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/p>\n<p>The raid on Caracas came as a surprise to Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/crow.house.gov\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo.<\/a>, demanded to know if plans to attack Iran had likewise been shared ahead of time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid the administration brief private sector officials, oil and gas executives, companies, businesses with interest in the Middle East before that operation commenced?\u201d Crow asked.<\/p>\n<p>Colby didn\u2019t rule that out but said he wasn\u2019t sure.<\/p>\n<p>Two days after the Venezuela raid,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/administration\/5672735-trump-venezuela-oil-industry\/#:~:text=by%20Sarah%20Fortinsky%20%2D%2001\/05,before%20and%20after%E2%80%9D%20the%20operation.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Trump told reporters he had spoken with<\/a>\u00a0U.S. oil executives \u201cbefore and after\u201d the operation.<\/p>\n<p>Trump defended the decision not to inform Congress. \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/program\/white-house-event\/president-trump-holds-news-conference-on-us-airstrikes-against-venezuela\/671134\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Congress has a tendency to leak<\/a>,\u201d he said at a news conference hours after Maduro was captured.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The explanation did not sit well with many in Congress, including some Republicans. Federal law requires notification to a tight circle of bipartisan leaders.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SpeakerJohnson\/status\/2027741976632631497?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">Speaker Mike Johnson<\/a>\u00a0has said the Gang of Eight was briefed before the Iran operation began.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Pulling teeth\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Armed Service Committee Chairman Rep.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mikerogers.house.gov\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican<\/a>, slammed Colby for a pattern of communication lapses. He pointed to the Pentagon\u2019s decision to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/oct\/29\/military-troops-romania\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">remove a brigade from Europe<\/a>\u00a0in October without notifying Congress until three days later.<\/p>\n<p>That partial withdrawal weakens the U.S. force posture, he said, making it especially problematic that Congress wasn\u2019t consulted or even alerted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe take our duty to consult with Congress very seriously,\u201d Colby responded. \u201cI would actually go so far as to say our organization is one of the leaders in congressional engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe see that completely differently. It\u2019s been like pulling teeth\u201d to get information, the chairman said.<\/p>\n<p>Quick turnaround from \u2018obliterated\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In a sharp exchange Tuesday at a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.armed-services.senate.gov\/hearings\/to-receive-an-update-on-the-national-defense-strategy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Senate Armed Services Committee hearing<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenMarkKelly\/status\/2029257186422010365\" rel=\"nofollow\">Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., pressed Colby<\/a>\u00a0to explain how Iran could have become an imminent threat by last week when only last summer Trump declared that he had destroyed its nuclear threat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone of us here heard about Iran having missile technology that was that advanced, being able to range the United States or being close to obtaining a nuclear weapon,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, the last thing we heard from the president on the nuclear weapons before this war, as he calls it, was the Iranian nuclear program was `<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/articles\/2025\/06\/irans-nuclear-facilities-have-been-obliterated-and-suggestions-otherwise-are-fake-news\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">obliterated<\/a>.\u2019 That means completely eliminated, gone for good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly noted that the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/media.defense.gov\/2026\/Jan\/23\/2003864773\/-1\/-1\/0\/2026-NATIONAL-DEFENSE-STRATEGY.PDF\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">National Defense Strategy<\/a>\u00a0issued Jan. 23, which Colby authored, also claimed the June attack \u201cobliterated Iran\u2019s nuclear program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colby asserted that the Pentagon always expected a follow-up to June\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.war.gov\/News\/News-Stories\/Article\/Article\/4240876\/defense-agency-contributed-toward-operation-midnight-hammer-success\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Operation Midnight Hammer<\/a>. \u201cWe fully anticipated providing the president with credible military options to deal with the Iranian threat,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Will Iran be an Iraq repeat?<\/p>\n<p>Colby assured lawmakers that this conflict with Iran will not be prolonged, echoing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/03\/03\/nx-s1-5732796\/trump-says-war-in-iran-could-last-for-weeks-or-longer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Trump<\/a>\u2019s predictions that it will be over within three to five weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes we have to use force in order to not fight for the long term,\u201d said\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/harrigan.house.gov\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C.<\/a>\u00a0\u201cWe are using a very specific application of force in such a decisive way that we are actually avoiding long conflict, and I think that\u2019s exactly what we are doing in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colby agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not another Iraq War,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not nation building. This is not an endless war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.war.gov\/News\/Transcripts\/Transcript\/Article\/4418959\/secretary-of-war-pete-hegseth-and-chairman-of-the-joint-chiefs-of-staff-gen-dan\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth<\/a>\u00a0sought to differentiate Operation Epic Fury from previous military operations. \u201cNo stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars,\u201d he said. \u201cWe fight to win, and we don\u2019t waste time or lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Depleted stockpiles<\/p>\n<p>One concern lawmakers expressed was that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.centcom.mil\/OPERATIONS-AND-EXERCISES\/EPIC-FURY\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Operation Epic Fury<\/a>\u00a0is depleting munitions stockpiles.<\/p>\n<p>Last June, the U.S.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/world\/israel-iran-us-missile-stockpile-08a65396?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAgGIZ4dpf3qS8B2ATP8wt2waaShGqkCYO_HZjieWS4vB9OI1R0SxiH5&amp;gaa_ts=68872a40&amp;gaa_sig=Uk1yQNbAyiH7tO8vvGKPTFMsTCkTi5WQ-mxkwuTWPCQ8ToFxCt-ePfSXqdJcvPN041-LTO_FIkSLTivphsP7IA%3D%3D\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">used a quarter<\/a>\u00a0of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile interceptors during the 12-day conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/releases\/office-of-the-spokesperson\/2026\/03\/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-remarks-to-press-6\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rubio said Monday<\/a>\u00a0that Iran\u2019s ongoing ability to produce offensive weapons faster than the U.S. can produce interceptors justified the latest intervention.\u00a0\u201cThey are producing, by some estimates, over 100 of these missiles a month,\u201d he said. \u201cCompare that to the six or seven interceptors that can be built a month.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the House hearing,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/moulton.house.gov\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass.<\/a>, voiced concern the Iran conflict will leave the U.S. short of munitions needed to deter China.<\/p>\n<p>Colby has long viewed China as the top U.S. threat, and the NDS describes China as one of the biggest threats to the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not concerned about the number of missiles that we\u2019re using in Iran?\u201d Moulton asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am confident in the situation,\u201d Colby said, adding the U.S. has a \u201cvery plentiful supply\u201d and the Pentagon is prepared to\u00a0address multiple threats at once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not a view shared by many of the officers who work in the Pentagon,\u201d Moulton said.<\/p>\n<p>This &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/03\/06\/iran-quagmire-pentagon-congress-iraq\/&#8221;&gt;article&lt;\/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org&#8221;&gt;Cronkite News&lt;\/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/&#8221;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&#8221;https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&amp;amp;ssl=1&#8243; style=&#8221;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&#8221;&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;img id=&#8221;republication-tracker-tool-source&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=100598&#8243; style=&#8221;width:1px;height:1px;&#8221;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &#8220;https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2026\/03\/06\/iran-quagmire-pentagon-congress-iraq\/&#8221;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;\/script&gt; &lt;script id=&#8221;parsely-cfg&#8221; src=&#8221;\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/p.js&#8221;&gt;&lt;\/script&gt;<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCanonical Tag:<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Tag\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArticle Content:<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIran is \u2018not another Iraq War,\u2019 top Pentagon official assures Congress<\/p>\n<p>George Headley, Cronkite News<br \/>\nMarch 6, 2026<\/p>\n<p>WASHINGTON \u2013 At a contentious\u00a0House Armed Services Committee hearing\u00a0with the Pentagon\u2019s No. 3 official, lawmakers in both parties vented frustration Thursday over being kept out of the loop on major military operations.<\/p>\n<p>Many aired concerns that the 5-day-old conflict with Iran will deplete stockpiles, lead to a prolonged war and distract attention from other U.S. adversaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Elbridge Colby, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, assured lawmakers the conflict will end far more quickly than the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, which lasted nearly nine years. And he asserted there\u2019s a \u201cvery plentiful supply\u201d of munitions.<\/p>\n<p>Colby \u2013 avoiding the term \u201cwar\u201d in referring to the hostilities with Iran \u2013 has long argued for limiting U.S. commitments in the Middle East to focus resources on deterring China.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre we at war with Iran?\u201d Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., asked at one point \u2013 a question at the heart of war powers resolutions that failed Wednesday in the Senate and Thursday in the House.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019re in a military action at this point. I\u2019ll leave it to Congress and lawyers, etc., from the administration to determine,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m not the right person to weigh in on exactly the criteria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Republicans used the hearing to express support for Trump\u2019s decision to attack Iran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis action should have been done a long time ago to restore deterrence. I can\u2019t think of a better group of folks to target than the ayatollah and his henchmen,\u201d said\u00a0Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.<\/p>\n<p>Congress kept in the dark<\/p>\n<p>Democrats in particular have accused the administration of failing to warn Americans in the Gulf region or plan for their evacuation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That was one of many critiques lawmakers aired.<\/p>\n<p>Many found it infuriating to learn that President Donald Trump tipped off U.S. energy company executives before U.S. forces captured Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3. The former president of Venezuela is awaiting trial in New York on drug trafficking charges.<\/p>\n<p>The raid on Caracas came as a surprise to Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., demanded to know if plans to attack Iran had likewise been shared ahead of time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid the administration brief private sector officials, oil and gas executives, companies, businesses with interest in the Middle East before that operation commenced?\u201d Crow asked.<\/p>\n<p>Colby didn\u2019t rule that out but said he wasn\u2019t sure.<\/p>\n<p>Two days after the Venezuela raid,\u00a0Trump told reporters he had spoken with\u00a0U.S. oil executives \u201cbefore and after\u201d the operation.<\/p>\n<p>Trump defended the decision not to inform Congress. \u201cCongress has a tendency to leak,\u201d he said at a news conference hours after Maduro was captured.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The explanation did not sit well with many in Congress, including some Republicans. Federal law requires notification to a tight circle of bipartisan leaders.\u00a0Speaker Mike Johnson\u00a0has said the Gang of Eight was briefed before the Iran operation began.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Pulling teeth\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Armed Service Committee Chairman Rep.\u00a0Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, slammed Colby for a pattern of communication lapses. He pointed to the Pentagon\u2019s decision to\u00a0remove a brigade from Europe\u00a0in October without notifying Congress until three days later.<\/p>\n<p>That partial withdrawal weakens the U.S. force posture, he said, making it especially problematic that Congress wasn\u2019t consulted or even alerted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe take our duty to consult with Congress very seriously,\u201d Colby responded. \u201cI would actually go so far as to say our organization is one of the leaders in congressional engagement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe see that completely differently. It\u2019s been like pulling teeth\u201d to get information, the chairman said.<\/p>\n<p>Quick turnaround from \u2018obliterated\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In a sharp exchange Tuesday at a\u00a0Senate Armed Services Committee hearing,\u00a0Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., pressed Colby\u00a0to explain how Iran could have become an imminent threat by last week when only last summer Trump declared that he had destroyed its nuclear threat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone of us here heard about Iran having missile technology that was that advanced, being able to range the United States or being close to obtaining a nuclear weapon,\u201d Kelly said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, the last thing we heard from the president on the nuclear weapons before this war, as he calls it, was the Iranian nuclear program was `obliterated.\u2019 That means completely eliminated, gone for good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly noted that the\u00a0National Defense Strategy\u00a0issued Jan. 23, which Colby authored, also claimed the June attack \u201cobliterated Iran\u2019s nuclear program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colby asserted that the Pentagon always expected a follow-up to June\u2019s\u00a0Operation Midnight Hammer. \u201cWe fully anticipated providing the president with credible military options to deal with the Iranian threat,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Will Iran be an Iraq repeat?<\/p>\n<p>Colby assured lawmakers that this conflict with Iran will not be prolonged, echoing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and\u00a0Trump\u2019s predictions that it will be over within three to five weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes we have to use force in order to not fight for the long term,\u201d said\u00a0Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C.\u00a0\u201cWe are using a very specific application of force in such a decisive way that we are actually avoiding long conflict, and I think that\u2019s exactly what we are doing in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colby agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not another Iraq War,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not nation building. This is not an endless war.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week,\u00a0Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth\u00a0sought to differentiate Operation Epic Fury from previous military operations. \u201cNo stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars,\u201d he said. \u201cWe fight to win, and we don\u2019t waste time or lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Depleted stockpiles<\/p>\n<p>One concern lawmakers expressed was that\u00a0Operation Epic Fury\u00a0is depleting munitions stockpiles.<\/p>\n<p>Last June, the U.S.\u00a0used a quarter\u00a0of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile interceptors during the 12-day conflict with Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio said Monday\u00a0that Iran\u2019s ongoing ability to produce offensive weapons faster than the U.S. can produce interceptors justified the latest intervention.\u00a0\u201cThey are producing, by some estimates, over 100 of these missiles a month,\u201d he said. \u201cCompare that to the six or seven interceptors that can be built a month.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the House hearing,\u00a0Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., voiced concern the Iran conflict will leave the U.S. short of munitions needed to deter China.<\/p>\n<p>Colby has long viewed China as the top U.S. threat, and the NDS describes China as one of the biggest threats to the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not concerned about the number of missiles that we\u2019re using in Iran?\u201d Moulton asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am confident in the situation,\u201d Colby said, adding the U.S. has a \u201cvery plentiful supply\u201d and the Pentagon is prepared to\u00a0address multiple threats at once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not a view shared by many of the officers who work in the Pentagon,\u201d Moulton said.<\/p>\n<p>This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Content\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTracking snippet:<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCopy Snippet\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by George Headley, Cronkite News March 6, 2026 WASHINGTON \u2013 At a contentious\u00a0House Armed Services Committee hearing\u00a0with the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[854,4337,34,94,2304,4338,212,1403,1974,4339,2302],"class_list":{"0":"post-6784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iraq","8":"tag-department-of-defense","9":"tag-eldridge-colby","10":"tag-iran","11":"tag-iraq","12":"tag-mark-kelly","13":"tag-nation-building","14":"tag-operation-epic-fury","15":"tag-pentagon","16":"tag-supreme-leader","17":"tag-thaad","18":"tag-war-powers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116182953697830834","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}