'We Have No Strategy': Duckworth Exposes Iran Strategy Confusion In Clash With Admiral Cooper

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]So, are we engaged in hostilities with Iran? Yes, or no? Uh we are not. We're in a ceasefire. The Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, right? You're you're in you're engaged in a blockade, are you not? The blockade is against Iranian ports, commerce going in and coming out.

[00:00:14]Um But, under international law, a blockade is an act of war.

[00:00:18]So, are we If you're blockading actively block- blockading Iran, then you are engaged in an act We are currently in an act of war with Iran under international law.

[00:00:27]That A blockade is one of the definitions of an act of war under international law. Consistent with the uh the direction we've been given, those characterizations are best done through uh the department's legal counsel when the facts >> It's not characterization. It's international law. It's listed. A blockade is an act of war.

[00:00:43]President Trump has provided many possible end states in only 2 months, including in just 2 months he said unconditional surrender and regime change in Iran, which have not happened.

[00:00:53]Um he's talked about, okay, operations will end when there's destruction of Iranian nuclear sites, allegedly already accomplished last summer under Operation Midnight Hammer.

[00:01:02]He said that his goal is to destroy the Iranian military forces and infrastructure completely, which the intel intelligence community assesses has not happened. And now, uh he said that it's a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which is a reminder was open before the war began. So, if we don't know what we're fighting for, we certainly don't know how long we'll be fighting.

[00:01:23]Admiral Cooper, the Senate received a letter from President Trump on Friday, May 1st, stating that hostilities with Iran have ended. And you just stated here that uh we are no longer uh uh operating under Operation uh Urgent Fury. Um would you say that uh we are still engaged in hostilities with Iran, or have they ended?

[00:01:43]Consistent with the President's letter, uh those Epic Fury is uh complete. We are operating under international armed conflict uh rules and the implementation of the blockade.

[00:01:53]>> So, So, are we engaged in hostilities with Iran? Yes, or no? Uh we are not.

[00:01:56]We're in a ceasefire. The Strait of Hormuz remains blocked, right? You're you're in you're engaged in a blockade, are you not? The blockade is against Iranian ports, commerce going in and coming out. Uh, it is the last thing we would want to do is blockade the Strait of Hormuz. And as we've seen in the last week, there have been instances of ships coming in and out, including our own.

[00:02:16]>> but under international law, a blockade is an act of war.

[00:02:20]So, are we If you're blockading actively blockading Iran, then you are engaged in an act We are currently in an act of war with Iran under international law.

[00:02:29]That a blockade is one of the definitions of an act of war under international law. Consistent with the uh, the direction we've been given, those characterizations are best done through uh, the department's legal counsel and the department's >> not characterization, it's international law. It's listed. A blockade is an act of war.

[00:02:45]Um, so let's We've now engaged in the United States and and the United States is and Iranian forces are trading fire. I said continue to launch missiles, drones, and my boat stacks. President Trump himself says the ceasefire is on life support, and he repeatedly threatens to renew US military strikes. And to be clear, no one is disputing the valor and professionalism of our military. But the civilian leaders are abdicating uh, their responsibility to craft a clear strategy, and service members and American people are the ones who will suffer under this leadership vacuum.

[00:03:18]Admiral Cooper, before Operation Epic Fury began, what desired end state for the operation were you given by your civilian leadership?

[00:03:27]Senator, I was given crystal clear guidance. Our military mission was to degrade Iran's ability to project power on its neighbors and US interests. It included three specific objectives: degrade Iranian ballistic missiles and their defense intel defense industrial base, degrade their drones and the defense industrial base, degrade their navy and the defense industrial base. All of those were achieved uh, as as I've discussed.

[00:03:51]And because they were achieved, that's why the operation ended, or did the operation end because the president said, "Let's end operation."

[00:03:59]Operations commencing and ending are made by our civilian leadership and not a military decision. Okay. Well, that civilian leadership, President Trump, has provided many possible end states in only 2 months, including in just 2 months he said unconditional surrender and regime change in Iran, which have not happened. Um he's talked about okay, operations will end when there's destruction of Iranian nuclear sites, allegedly already accomplished last summer under Operation Midnight Hammer.

[00:04:26]Um he said he's also said that Iran will never have nuclear weapons, which cannot be accomplished with only a bombing campaign. He said that his goal is to destroy the Iranian military forces and infrastructure completely, which the intel intelligence community assesses has not happened. And now uh he said that it's a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which as a reminder was open before the war began. So, if we don't know what we're fighting for, we certainly don't know how long we'll be fighting.

[00:04:53]Admiral Cooper, what have you been given Have you been given any timeline for how long our forces will be in the Strait of Hormuz or near Iran or blockading Iran um whether by a timeline or a condition, an end state for how long you'll be blockading Iran?

[00:05:08]Senator, I think it's important from a military perspective that uh my advice uh related to options uh be provided to both the secretary and the president.

[00:05:15]We've done that. The decisions on timeline and execution are up to our civilian leadership. Okay.

[00:05:21]Um so, you mentioned the Secretary of Defense who only talks tactics and a president who changes his strategy on social media multiple times a day. This is who's giving you the orders.

[00:05:30]Secretary Esper has touted the destruction of tens of thousands of targets across Iran. He said that Iran's air defenses are flattened, his words, and its industrial base overwhelmingly destroyed, and claims that Iran's navy is at the bottom of the sea. Every metric that the secretary offers is one of destruction, and destruction alone is not an end state, especially not with new public reporting that US intelligence officials believe Iran has operational access to most of its missile capacity and that Iran is clearly still capable of controlling the Strait of Hormuz. Americans are not safer, our service members are at risk, prices at home are higher and Iran has more control over the Strait and global economy than it did before this this whole thing started. The American people, our service members deserve clear answers. What does done with the war look like and how do we get there?

[00:06:14]We have no strategy. As we saw in Afghanistan, if you don't have a sound strategy, you keep doing tactics forever. This is not your fault, but this is where we are. And Admiral Cooper, have you been asked for your advice and under what conditions would you advise deploying ground troops for any purpose in Iran?

[00:06:31]Senator, I think you'd uh it would be inappropriate to talk about any contingency planning in this particular forum. It's my obligation as the combatant commander to provide to provide a broad range of options through the secretary and to the president.

[00:06:42]>> answer that question for me [clears throat] in the skiff at a later time? I'd be more than happy to talk about anything classified.

[00:06:47]>> All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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