Top military brass warn Hegseth that extending Iran war is leaving the US homeland vulnerable to attack

The Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs, together with four-star commanders responsible for Europe, Asia and Latin America, have cautioned Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth that sustaining large-scale operations against Iran at their current scale is not viable. The warning surfaced in the classified August 14 Secretary of Defense Orders Book, which disclosed that some US troops will remain in the Middle East until at least 2027. Commanders for Latin America and Europe have flagged that redirecting ships and aircraft to the region has eroded their capacity to meet homeland-defence commitments.

The heads of US Pacific Command, European Command and Southern Command each formally filed a 'non-concur' — signalling their objection to the orders while committing to execute them nonetheless.

The Navy's chief cautioned that only around one quarter of the destroyer fleet is ready for deployment, a sharp decline from pre-war levels.

The Pentagon dismissed the reporting as 'fake news full of inaccuracies', with spokesman Sean Parnell insisting Hegseth is 'actively engaged' to maintain acceptable readiness.