The Pentagon is seething over a Washington Post report that top military leaders recently warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against extending large-scale Iran war operations.
People familiar with a classified assessment prepared for Hegseth told the Post that several combatant commanders have advised the Defense chief that prolonging operations against Iran is unsustainable and risks weakening the U.S.’s ability to address threats elsewhere, including on U.S. soil.
The warnings appear in the Aug. 14 edition of the Secretary of Defense Orders Book (SDOB), detailed by the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and the four-star commanders overseeing U.S. operations throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America, the Post reported Sunday.
Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell lambasted the report in a post on the social platform X.
“Publishing highly classified assessments from the Secretary’s orders book is a crime. It’s a betrayal of the force,” he said. “And much of what they’re publishing is inaccurate.”
Parnell said the Pentagon wants “candid” advice and disagreements are common.
“The Secretary sees them constantly. That’s how you run a real military. We are in great shape around the world. This story isn’t about readiness,” he said, alleging it is about “TDS,” an acronym that President Trump and his allies often use to mean “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Washington Post military affairs reporter Dan Lamothe defended his colleagues’ work with a response to Parnell.
“Fact check: Independent journalism is not a crime,” he said. “It's also especially important at a time when government officials are withholding key details and concerns about a war being fought on behalf of the American people with their taxpayer dollars.”
The Aug. 14 SDOB directs some U.S. forces currently deployed in the Middle East to remain through September and others into 2027, those familiar with the document told the Post.
The heads of U.S. European, Pacific and Southern Commands, along with the Navy’s top admiral, responded with a “non-concur” — signaling their disagreement with Hegseth’s order to extend their forces, the Post reported.
The report comes as the U.S. and Iran traded fire for the first time in almost a month. The war, now in its sixth month, has drained the Navy’s budget and significantly depleted U.S. stockpiles of missile interceptors and long-range precision missiles.
Throughout the conflict, U.S. ships, personnel, aircraft and equipment have been redirected from various parts of the world to the Middle East. The sources told the Post that this has limited the military’s ability to conduct missions and ensure proper training.
In addition to Parnell, other accounts on X with links to the Pentagon weighed in to slam the Post for reporting on classified information.
The account DataRepublican, which is run by Utah software engineer Jennica Pounds, a special government employee at the Defense Department, responded to Lamothe.
“This is one of the most serious leaks I have ever seen, and you are using this to score partisan points against Hegseth,” the account posted.
“The one without ethics here is the entire staff of the Washington Post who did not immediately turn in this traitor as soon as they received the material,” Pounds continued.
Adam D’Ortona, an active-duty Army lieutenant colonel who runs the account InfantryDort, accused the Post of working for the “enemies of the United States.”
“Worse, this isn’t gossip. Revealing where senior commanders believe forces are stretched, where they perceive risk, and which commitments they consider unsustainable gives an adversary information it can immediately exploit,” he wrote.
USA Today reported last year that D’Ortona works in Hegseth’s office.
In recent weeks, Trump has shifted from military threats to economic pressure against Iran, as the U.S. Navy has slowly expanded its control over the Strait of Hormuz, facilitating steady oil tanker traffic and keeping gas prices stable, though still high.
Centcom said last week that the U.S. had cleared the strait of all sea mines along internationally recognized transit routes.
U.S. forces late Sunday struck Iranian rocket launchers in waterway. U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command (Centcom), said two launchers were hit on Lark Island after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were seen preparing to launch rockets with sea mines in the strait.
Iran retaliated for the attack by launching missiles toward U.S. military sites in Jordan. The United Arab Emirates said it also intercepted an Iranian drone over its territorial waters.
▪ The Washington Post: Pentagon secretly installs influencers in civilian roles.
▪ NBC News: Iranian supreme leader urges Gulf leaders to fight ‘real enemy.’
▪ CNN: A power struggles in Iran could decide when Trump’s war ends.
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