Top Pentagon official assures Congress that Iran is ‘not another Iraq War’

WASHINGTON – At a contentious House Armed Services Committee hearing with the Pentagon’s No. 3 official, lawmakers in both parties vented frustration Thursday over being kept out of the loop on major military operations.

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. 

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’s a “very plentiful supply” of munitions.

Colby – avoiding the term “war” in referring to the hostilities with Iran – has long argued for limiting U.S. commitments in the Middle East to focus resources on deterring China.

“Are we at war with Iran?” Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., asked at one point – a question at the heart of war powers resolutions that failed Wednesday in the Senate and Thursday in the House. 

“I think we’re in a military action at this point. I’ll leave it to Congress and lawyers, etc., from the administration to determine,” he said. “I’m not the right person to weigh in on exactly the criteria.”

Republicans used the hearing to express support for Trump’s decision to attack Iran.

“This action should have been done a long time ago to restore deterrence. I can’t think of a better group of folks to target than the ayatollah and his henchmen,” said Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.

Congress kept in the dark

Democrats in particular have accused the administration of failing to warn Americans in the Gulf region or plan for their evacuation. 

That was one of many critiques lawmakers aired.

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.

The raid on Caracas came as a surprise to Congress. 

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., demanded to know if plans to attack Iran had likewise been shared ahead of time.

“Did the administration brief private sector officials, oil and gas executives, companies, businesses with interest in the Middle East before that operation commenced?” Crow asked.

Colby didn’t rule that out but said he wasn’t sure.

Two days after the Venezuela raid, Trump told reporters he had spoken with U.S. oil executives “before and after” the operation.

Trump defended the decision not to inform Congress. “Congress has a tendency to leak,” he said at a news conference hours after Maduro was captured. 

The explanation did not sit well with many in Congress, including some Republicans. Federal law requires notification to a tight circle of bipartisan leaders. Speaker Mike Johnson has said the Gang of Eight was briefed before the Iran operation began.

‘Pulling teeth’

Armed Service Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, slammed Colby for a pattern of communication lapses. He pointed to the Pentagon’s decision to remove a brigade from Europe in October without notifying Congress until three days later.

That partial withdrawal weakens the U.S. force posture, he said, making it especially problematic that Congress wasn’t consulted or even alerted.

“We take our duty to consult with Congress very seriously,” Colby responded. “I would actually go so far as to say our organization is one of the leaders in congressional engagement.”

“We see that completely differently. It’s been like pulling teeth” to get information, the chairman said.

Quick turnaround from ‘obliterated’

In a sharp exchange Tuesday at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., pressed Colby to 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.

If Iran’s nuclear missile program was “obliterated,” 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. pic.twitter.com/OyF33DA8KV

— Senator Mark Kelly (@SenMarkKelly) March 4, 2026

“None 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,” Kelly said.

“I 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.’ That means completely eliminated, gone for good,” he said.

Kelly noted that the National Defense Strategy issued Jan. 23, which Colby authored, also claimed the June attack “obliterated Iran’s nuclear program.”

Colby asserted that the Pentagon always expected a follow-up to June’s Operation Midnight Hammer. “We fully anticipated providing the president with credible military options to deal with the Iranian threat,” he said. 

Will Iran be an Iraq repeat?

Colby assured lawmakers that this conflict with Iran will not be prolonged, echoing Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s predictions that it will be over within three to five weeks.

“Sometimes we have to use force in order to not fight for the long term,” said Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C. “We are using a very specific application of force in such a decisive way that we are actually avoiding long conflict, and I think that’s exactly what we are doing in Iran.”

Colby agreed.

“This is not another Iraq War,” he said. “This is not nation building. This is not an endless war.”

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to differentiate Operation Epic Fury from previous military operations. “No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars,” he said. “We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives.”

Depleted stockpiles

One concern lawmakers expressed was that Operation Epic Fury is depleting munitions stockpiles.

Last June, the U.S. used a quarter of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile interceptors during the 12-day conflict with Iran.

Rubio said Monday that Iran’s ongoing ability to produce offensive weapons faster than the U.S. can produce interceptors justified the latest intervention. “They are producing, by some estimates, over 100 of these missiles a month,” he said. “Compare that to the six or seven interceptors that can be built a month.”

At the House hearing, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., voiced concern the Iran conflict will leave the U.S. short of munitions needed to deter China.

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.

“You’re not concerned about the number of missiles that we’re using in Iran?” Moulton asked.

“I am confident in the situation,” Colby said, adding the U.S. has a “very plentiful supply” and the Pentagon is prepared to address multiple threats at once.

“That is not a view shared by many of the officers who work in the Pentagon,” Moulton said.

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