'They don't know what they're doing': Chris Van Hollen slams Pete Hegseth's handling of the Iran war

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland criticized Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the handling of the Iran War, claiming the United States "should never have gotten into this senseless war, and we should end it now." In an interview with 'This Week' co-anchor Martha Raddatz, Van Hollen said the U.S. should stop "digging a hole" for itself and walk away with the consequences. The comments come as the Pentagon faced heightened scrutiny over the quiet update of its database, which altered the number of casualties in the war.  

In the interview, Van Hollen told Raddatz the U.S. should end the war it began in February, as it has put immense pressure on the global and U.S. economy due to the slowed maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and left U.S. service members vulnerable to Iranian attacks. "When you're digging a hole, you just stop digging, and my view is that's what we should do," Van Hollen said. He further claimed that the critical crude oil shipping lane that Tehran choked at the beginning of the war would truly reopen if the U.S. were to cease its offensive. The U.S. military and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps exchanged strikes for 13 straight days before halting the attacks over the weekend. Just in the past week, four U.S. service members were killed in the war, as per ABC News. 

When Raddatz asked what the consequences might be if the U.S. just walked away from the war, Van Hollen replied: "There's no question that Iran would go back to the status quo ante before the war started," adding, "I believe that, and that would show just how senseless this war is." While the U.S. and Iran signed an interim agreement to work out a framework for peace, both sides publicized attacks for nearly two consecutive weeks before halting the strikes at once for the past two days. 

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has come under fresh scrutiny after it updated its official war casualty database over the weekend, adding more than 140 wounded service members. The Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) also introduced a new casualty category called the "Overseas Operations" for personnel killed and wounded starting July 7. As per the updated database, the official death toll for the Iran war now stands at 14 service members, and over 400 U.S. service members have been wounded in action.

Former defence secretary and CIA director Leon Panetta told The Guardian that the Pentagon is taking a "shameful approach" to releasing information about the U.S. casualties in the war. Panetta, who oversaw the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, said he held weekly Pentagon briefings at the time and criticised the current administration for not holding a press briefing for two and a half months.