Retired U.S. Army Gen. Jack Keane bristled when pressed by Fox News’ Will Cain over what accomplishing the mission in Iran would look like, accusing the host of patronizing him before later apologizing.
On Monday’s edition of “The Will Cain Show,” the topic was Operation Epic Fury, which was launched over the weekend with President Donald J. Trump urging the Iranian people to take control of their government in Tehran.
“What does victory look like? When would the United States say, ‘Mission accomplished?’” Cain asked after bringing the retired military man on.
With critics complaining about the messaging in the conflict’s early days, the host irked Keane by disagreeing with his assessment that “it’s pretty clear” what the mission is, leading to the tense exchange after the general explained the history of Iranian aggression that has taken place under multiple former presidents and that Trump is putting his foot down.
(Video Credit: Fox News)
“Ok, well, it’s not 100 percent clear to me, General, and that’s not to suggest that I don’t support 100 percent what is happening, nor that I 100 percent offer my support,” Cain said. “I just think I want to ask a couple of critical questions, and I hope you know how much respect I have for your service, and I think it goes without saying to anybody watching how much respect I have for the men making these decisions…”
“You don’t have to patronize me,” Keane snapped. “Just ask the question. Go ahead, come on, ask it.”
“To be clear, General, I’m not patronizing you,” Cain responded. “I’m trying to have a very serious conversation in front of the American people. The men making these decisions have my utmost respect. This is less about you and everyone making these decisions, and this is about the American people understanding the investment that lies before them.”
“Do we understand the objectives?” Cain asked. “We’ve seen the price in the past of having unclear objectives, and maybe you do, and maybe the secretary of war does, but I think the American people also need to understand, and when you lay out the way that Iran has behaved toward the United States, is a justification. But it’s a justification for regime change, and I just heard something different from the secretary of state.”
“The reason I think this is a point of clarification that I need, or I think that a lot of the people need, is because degrading their missile capability requires a different investment than regime change,” the host continued. “So what I want to be clear about is at what level of investment are we looking at here?”
Keane then proceeded to articulate what he sees as the objectives for the new Middle East conflict.
“I thought it was pretty clear. I mean, what we’re trying to do is take down what sustains this regime and keeps it able to function,” he said. “That is their governance system with leadership. The IRGC, the police that are repressing the people and stripping away all of that capability, and what I’m talking about is U.S. and Israeli objectives here, because this is a combined operation.”
“That is critical to success here, and then it becomes, what are we doing about their capabilities to attack us? And that has been pretty clear. We’re gonna strip away all of that, Will. We’re going to take down the ballistic missile systems, the drones, capability… and they made the decision to recover their nuclear weapons, but they haven’t done much about it, and whatever that not done much about it is, we’re gonna take that down as well.”
At the end of the interview, Keane offered an apology for snapping at Cain.
“I’m sorry I barked at you,” he said.
The host was gracious toward his guest.
“That’s all right, general. I think for the general and everybody else watching, these are times when questions are critical,” Caine said. “I think the general has the utmost capability of answering those questions, as do many of the people making these decisions. But these can and should be asked on something no less than the prospect of war.”
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