Hegseth Says ‘Silly and Academic’ to Question if Iran Attack Was ‘an Opportunity More than an Imminent Threat’

EXCERPT:

HEGSETH: "I mean, I think much of that discussion is silly and academic. They’ve been killing us for 48 years — 47 years. They have unabated nuclear ambitions. And when we obliterated their nuclear program at the end of the 12-day war and Operation Midnight Hammer, they should have come to the table and said, 'Okay, we get it. You mean business. We're not gonna have nukes.' And they haven't. And as a result, when the president looks at it generationally, he sees a threat that would continue to gather."