Hegseth vows US will ‘go as far as we
need’ to topple Iranian regime as conflict
escalates — including possible ‘boots
on ground’
New York Post,
by
Anna Young
Original Article
Posted By: Mercedes44,
3/9/2026 7:33:14 AM
War Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed he and President Trump will do whatever it takes to topple the Iranian regime – and didn’t rule out sending US ground troops into Tehran as Operation Epic Fury rages on.
“We’re willing to go as far as we need in order to be successful,” Hegseth told CBS News’s Major Garrett during a “60 Minutes” sit-down interview that aired Sunday night.
“We reserve the right. We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option, whether it included boots on the ground or not boots on the ground.”
Post Reply
Reminder: “WE ARE A SALON AND NOT A SALOON”
Your thoughts, comments, and ideas are always welcome here. But we ask you to please be mindful and respectful. Threatening or crude language doesn't persuade anybody and makes the conversation less enjoyable for fellow L.Dotters.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
chumley 3/9/2026 7:40:38 AM (No. 2077944)
That was predictable. When your entire national policy is fighting or paying for other peoples' wars, you have to do what the client (Israel) wants. Tell the public enough to shut them up, but do what you were going to do anyway.
By the way, inflation is only temporary too.
6 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Jesuslover54 3/9/2026 8:25:42 AM (No. 2077958)
Chumley, please take your head out.
24 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Strike3 3/9/2026 8:33:29 AM (No. 2077963)
Insane fanatics with a culture of murder holding the United States hostage with nuclear bombs is not tolerable at any time. They have killed tens of thousands of people without having that ultimate horror.
13 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
felixcat 3/9/2026 8:41:46 AM (No. 2077966)
Re #1 - Better to have Israel as our client then say all the other countries in the Middle East. But what do I know as a former correctional officer no better than the inmates I use to guard.
9 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 3/9/2026 8:42:18 AM (No. 2077967)
At some point, it will be necessary to fly in a team of special ops personnel to load up and take the enriched uranium. And find any missiles pre-loaded with dirty bombs.
12 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
bpl40 3/9/2026 9:07:12 AM (No. 2077988)
Once more I would like to draw attention to Lady Thatcher's famous comment "Don't go wobbly now"!
18 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
red1066 3/9/2026 9:15:26 AM (No. 2077993)
Putting troops on the ground will probably see a democrat victory come November in the mid-terms. In addition, it will draw in every nut job Muslim fanatic from all over the world to fight. Putting special forces in the secure and remove enriched uranium will work only if it's a quick operation.
9 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
mc squared 3/9/2026 9:37:23 AM (No. 2078002)
Did anyone want Hegseth to say , We'll go as far as needed to win - EXCEPT ground fighting? It gives Iran a perfect trap. While I strongly don't want our military in Iran, you don't tell your enemy what you won't do.
18 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
marbles 3/9/2026 10:17:50 AM (No. 2078027)
#1 Iran ( muslim crazies with an nuclear bomb ) is / was a threat to the entire world. We mourn our dead, they cheer theirs. We cherish our children, they sell their 6 yr old daughters to middle aged men for marriage and train their boys to be suicide bombers. This confrontation has been a long time coming.
Remember, they hate America and the west as much as they hate Jews. Big Satan , Little Satan.
16 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Venturer 3/9/2026 10:54:02 AM (No. 2078065)
What we need is a new regime willing to give up their enriched uranium which is only good for producing a nuclear bomb. Unless that happens we or the Israeli's may have to go in and take it.
If we leave it there and the the Mullah's are left in charge the whole mess was wasted.
12 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Hazymac 3/9/2026 11:50:25 AM (No. 2078094)
#5 is correct. Iran has a good amount of enriched, or partially enriched, uranium that could be used for, at least, dirty bombs that would make areas where they exploded uninhabitable for decades. The mullahs cannot be allowed to have ANY fissile material, which will have to be physically removed by our forces. No one wants American troops on the ground, but this particular enemy, Islamic terrorist supporting, has to be completely defanged. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) worked with the old Soviet Union, because neither side wanted to risk total destruction. Today, our radical Islamist enemies don't care if they die, as long as they kill us. They must be completely disarmed, and their radical leadership all need to die.
Although I frequently agree with #1, #2 is right. International enemies of Israel are, almost to a person, supporters of Muslim terrorists. That's not the way for us to be.
10 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
JHHolliday 3/9/2026 12:26:15 PM (No. 2078103)
I have now heard the phrase "Boots on the Ground" at least a hundred times from assorted media pundits. Come on people, just use 'troops'. I remember some years ago, the media latched onto the word 'gravitas' meaning a serious candidate. You heard if from all of them repeating it like a bunch of magpies.
8 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
LadyHen 3/9/2026 12:30:03 PM (No. 2078107)
Exactly #7. I understand he has to say "nothing is off the table" because now we have once again committed our blood and treasure to fighting someone else's war but some of us actually did vote for "no more useless, wasteful, perpetual wars" and actually meant it. Lots of Independent voters sure did and many more things like deporting all the illegals, securing our vote, boosting our economy. All that boring domestic stuff that actually means something to people who rely on a paycheck and not a government check. Fool me once...
And since we have been given NOTHING in terms of evidence that Iran was on the cusp of doing something against us, what are such people to think? If boots are on the ground, it is Iraq and Afghanistan all over again. The GOP perpetual war grift has robbed us of how many young lives and how many tax payer dollars. No better than the Democrat corrupt vote buying grift.
2 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
PrayerWarrior 3/9/2026 12:55:45 PM (No. 2078123)
Can we all stop getting our knickers in a twist? Trump is not George Bush. President Trump has earned our trust and if he said no more forever wars, he meant it. We're praying for the safety and victory for our military.
10 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Muguy 3/9/2026 1:42:47 PM (No. 2078155)
We MUST have the stomach and the will to see this through or it will be like picking up a handful of sand on a beach. The question has to be asked what are the terms of considering this action to be a complete "victory"?
Taking out the reactors via Midnight Hammer was a start and we suspected then that the enriched product was NOT actually on site of those strikes. The missile technology supplied to them from other countries could be called into play if those delivery systems are not also destroyed.
Whether we will publicly admit it or not, there are personnel in country who are working on this very plan right now and part of the major success of Midnight Hammer was the Israeli intel shared which had been collected over time.
5 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
Geoman 3/9/2026 1:57:16 PM (No. 2078168)
In the last few days, both the president and Hegseth have issued statements that are more compatible with the pursuit of a Congressionally-declared war, not the preemptive, self defensive actions initially claimed by this administration. That said, I generally agree with Trump's Epic Fury, and its stated key objectives. I totally disagree the sentiment that the US is fighting an 'Israeli war' or that it was GOP war grift that got this current war ball rolling. Israel was doing fine with eliminating Hamas' terrorist activities against Israel, until the president pressured them to accept his negotiated cease fire. Overthrowing Iran's "Islamic Republic" is a worthy objective but should have had overt Congressional support, not the merry-go-round of half-measures of the "police actions"resulting in around 100,000 US KIA in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
4 people like this.
Below, you will find ...
Most Recent Articles posted by "Mercedes44"
and
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)