Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held a Pentagon briefing on Mar. 19, expressing that “today will be the largest strike package yet,” echoing statements from prior briefings.
As the war in Iran approaches nearly three weeks since the start of the conflict, which began on Feb. 28 with the launch of a joint U.S.-Israel kinetic military operation against the Islamic Republic, Secretary Hegseth affirmed that the U.S. is winning the war decisively, with its goals in the conflict unchanged and on target.
"We fight to win and we are winning on our terms following our objectives," Hegseth commented, confirming that over 7,000 targets have been struck across Iran and on its military infrastructure.
During the briefing, Secretary Hegseth also honored the Americans killed in the war, promising that “we will finish this” at the request of their families.
“We honored them and we grieved with their families and we listened,” Hegseth said. “What I heard through tears, through hugs, through strength and through unbreakable resolve was the same from family after family. They said, ‘Finish this, honor their sacrifice, do not waver, do not stop until the job is done.’”
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, additionally spoke at the briefing to address the U.S. military’s current operations, sharing that an A-10C Thunderbolt II – an attack aircraft known as the “Warthog” – is “hunting and killing fast attack watercraft” from Iran along the Strait of Hormuz.
Gen. Caine also confirmed that 120 Iranian vessels and 44 minelayers have been destroyed, adding that Apache helicopters “have joined the fight on the southern flank, and they continue to work on the southern side.”
Secretary Hegseth concluded the briefing by sharing that he is upset about America’s “ungrateful allies in Europe.” “The Middle East, our ungrateful allies in Europe, even segments of our own press should be saying one thing to President Trump: thank you,” he expressed.
“‘Thank you for the courage to stop this terror state from holding the world hostage with missiles while building or attempting to build a nuclear bomb. Thank you for doing the work of the free world.’”
