Tom Cotton Presses JCS Nominee On ‘Imminent’ Threat Of Iran’s Growing Nuclear Power

4/7/2025

During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) questioned former Lieutenant General John D. Caine, the nominee to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about resolving U.S.-Iran nuclear tensions.

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Transcript

00:00General Shaheen. Senator Cotton. General Cain, congratulations on your nomination and thank

00:05you for your 34 years of service. Thank you also for your service at times in the intelligence

00:10community where your reputation is as strong as it is in the Department of Defense. Let's continue

00:15on the theme of Senator Shaheen's question about providing your candid military advice. I think as

00:21the chairman and Senator Reid pointed out, a lot of people don't understand the chairman of the

00:26Joint Chiefs is not in the chain of command. Is that correct? Yes, sir. By law, your role is the

00:32principal military advisor. So if the president makes a decision on this, that, or the other

00:37policy or operation about this, that, or the other country, that goes from him to the Secretary of

00:42Defense down to some other commander, say the CENTCOM commander or the Secretary of the Army

00:47or what have you. You're on the side giving advice to everyone, but you're not actually carrying out

00:52decisions in the chain of command. That's correct, sir. And I think Congress gave the chairman that

00:58role because we wanted someone who was free from those day-to-day demands of operational or

01:04managerial duties to provide that candid military advice. And as Senator Shaheen said, it's important

01:11that you provide that advice even when you think the principal doesn't want to hear it, the Secretary

01:17of Defense or the NSC or the president. But I think you said in your opening statement that you

01:23were an unusual or an unconventional nominee. Which was it? I think it was unconventional.

01:28Unconventional, okay. I agree with that. I think most people would as well. You don't strike me as

01:32the kind of guy who's been angling for this job for 34 years. Is that a fair statement?

01:38That would be a fair statement, Senator. And did you expect to get this job as recently as, I don't

01:43know, three or six months ago? I did not, Senator. So, is there any reason to think that you're not

01:50going to be providing your candid and best professional military advice even and maybe

01:55especially when you've gotten wind, say, a little birdie has tipped you off that maybe the secretary

02:00or the president doesn't want to hear what you have to say? Senator, no. And you know, I went to

02:05I went to VMI where I lived in the new barracks for four years and looked out on a statue of

02:12George Callot Marshall for four years. And, sir, if I failed to provide my candid advice to the

02:17secretary, the NSC, or the president, I think General Marshall would climb out of his grave and hunt me

02:23down. Good. Thank you. Because I think every president, every NSC, every secretary of defense

02:30needs that, especially from a chairman. Not to give them their candid advice when it's welcome,

02:35but even when they know it's unwelcome. Now, as you said, though, you're an advisor. You're not a

02:40decider. You're not a commander. Once the secretary, in some cases, or the president, probably in most

02:46cases, has made the decision, then you're on the side making sure that decision is going to be

02:52carried out by the relevant commanders, right? Yes, sir. Thank you. Let's look at something specific

02:57in this area now, and that's the threat of Iran's nuclear program. By some estimates, they could be

03:04just weeks away from having at least testable, if not workable, nuclear devices. Maybe as few as a

03:09couple years away from having missiles that could hit us here in the United States. The president

03:13has said repeatedly that he wants a peaceful resolution to this crisis, but he's also said,

03:20I think as recently as last week, quote, if they don't make a deal, they will be bombing,

03:25end quote. He said for at least a decade, I've known him, that Iran cannot be allowed to get a

03:30nuclear weapon. Do you agree with the president's assessment that Iran cannot be allowed to get a

03:34nuclear weapon? I do, Senator. And do you agree that because of their missile programs, especially

03:43the flimsy cover of the space launch program, that this is not just a threat to our troops in the

03:48region, or Israel, or our Arab friends in the region, this could be an imminent and existential

03:54threat to the United States itself in just a few short years? Senator, I think that's an

04:00accurate statement. If the president asks for military options to support what he has said

04:10publicly, that if Iran is not willing to make a deal, that there will be bombing, do you commit

04:14to provide him the best and candid advice you can about viable military options and the likely

04:20consequences of each? Senator, I think that's what the job of the joint staff is to do, is to provide

04:26a range of options for the president to consider and then allow him to select whatever those

04:31options work best for him. Thank you. And finally, there's some hysteria about the prospect of the

04:37president ordering these strikes, or someone like you in uniform providing him advice, that it's

04:42going to lead to another forever war, or another endless war. Are you aware of operations, maybe

04:48operations against Iran, like the tanker wars in 1988, in which the forceful but discriminant

04:55application of military power did not lead to a forever war, or an endless war, but rather led to

05:01peace and stability? Yes, sir, those examples in our history do exist. Maybe the Qasem Soleimani

05:08strike in 2020 as well that caused Iran to pull in its horns for the rest of President Trump's

05:13first term. Thank you, General Kane.

Tom Cotton Presses JCS Nominee On ‘Imminent’ Threat Of Iran’s Growing Nuclear Power

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