Damning Intel Leak Blows Up Pentagon Pete's Chest-Thumping Claims

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Daily Beast

Updated Apr. 11 2026 6:04PM EDT
Published Apr. 11 2026 1:23PM EDT


Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s chest-thumping claims about Iran’s losses don’t appear to line up with intelligence assessments.

Iran still has thousands of ballistic missiles that could be pulled out of hiding or dug up from underground storage sites, officials familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments revealed to The Wall Street Journal.The report undercuts the self-proclaimed secretary of war’s claims that Iran’s missile program has been obliterated.

“Their missile program is functionally destroyed, launchers, production facilities, and existing stockpiles depleted and decimated and almost completely ineffective,” Hegseth, 45, told reporters on Wednesday as he asserted that “Iran’s air force has been wiped out.”. U.S. intelligence reports paint a more worrying picture, sources told the Journal.

Though American officials have said that more than half of Iran’s missile launchers have been destroyed, damaged, or trapped underground in the conflict, many of them can still be repaired or pulled out of underground complexes, the outlet reported.U.S. and Israeli officials also said that while Iran’s missile inventory has been roughly halved, it retains thousands of medium- and short-range ballistic missiles that could be taken out of hiding or dug up from underground sites.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/damning-intel-leak-blows-up-pentagon-petes-depleted-and-decimated-claim/

[Skittles]

1. yeah like we haven't already figured that out yet

[democrank]

2. What has been "wiped out" is Hegseth's credibility.

Hegseth’s pre-teen angry boy face and his phony leadership stance are coverups for the lies he spews.

[Irish_Dem]

3. He is either lying or delusional.

Or drunk all the time.

[GiqueCee]

9. All three...

... is the strongest likelihood. And the deity he so fervently worships must be the Old Testament guy. He was a malicious, vindictive bully. WHOA! sounds just like someone we know, don't it?

[Irish_Dem]

13. All three merits a bat shit crazy diagnosis.

[GiqueCee]

16. It certainly fits!

[littlemissmartypants]

4. I've said this before...

We don't have a clue what the Iranian government has hidden underground. They've had lots of time to dig tunnels and bunkers for storing all kinds of things.

The reckless stupidity of the DJ administration is only overshadowed by their bottomless pit of evil intentions.

Thanks for sharing this, BRDS.

I hope you have a lovely day. ❤️

[paleotn]

15. Yep. They've been worried about this exact scenario since Carter.

That's a long time to get prepared.

[NHvet]

30. And they have long memories

of what the us has wrought over the years on them that their families have and will seek revenge for. Donald and his merry didn't think about what would happen when they kicked the hornets nest. Bibi told them it would be a in and out mission. And the unnerving part is the orange messiah has the nuke codes and a finger on the button.

[FakeNoose]

20. Exactly right, we don't know

But we can guess that whatever missiles they still have are all pointing directly at Israel. Netanyahu has made no attempt at peace offerings either. These are two crazy armed camps who completely hate each other so much that they can't think straight. How did we get in the middle of this?

[travelingthrulife]

22. Israelis should be furious at Nuttyyahoo. He is ensuring their destruction.

[Safe as Milk]

28. Diddling Donny took the bait.

He couldn't resist the chance for bragging rights and didn't give a shit about Iran. Donny thought it would be a circus show cake walk. Bombs away and "look at what I've done''! Donny doesn't know anything about Iran and never cared. Iran, meanwhile, is in existential crisis. They will always remember Donny's lies. The lies that caused the deaths of their leaders. Now Donny has hit a brick wall. He doesn't have any leverage, experience, nor gravitas to negotiate with Iran. Couch Whisperer has even less. And somewhere in the bottom of the septic tank is Lutnick, or NutLick, or whoever, whose hair grease is supposed to compensate for prestige, as long as he can pay his team of hair dressers to muck it all up. Yeah. Lutnick and Epstein. Bosom buddy neighbors.

[Vinca]

5. Pete gets his intelligence about war from God. He tells us that at every opportunity.

[OGBuzz]

18. When they send in the land forces Whiskey Pete...

needs to be at the head of the invading army carrying a giant cross, and shirtless so that the enemy can see all that Crusader crap tattooed all over his body.

[OldBaldy1701E]

6. Well, to be fair, it doesn't take a lot to prove he is little more than a poo-flinging chimpanzee anyway. (n/t)

[Crowman2009]

7. And we still haven't found out who this rescued pilot was.

Normally the Pentagon would release their name and there would be a press conference with the pilot and rescue crew. But we get nothing, not a peep. Which makes me think Sec. of War Crimes has been lying about that as well.

[COL Mustard]

8. Hegseth is really the Secretary of

The He-Man Woman Hater’s Club (from the Little Rascals).

[AverageOldGuy]

10. Remember when the Defense Intelligence Agency . . . .

. . . assessed that Trump's previous attack had not "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program? Trump fired the general who was Director, DIA.

Head will roll now that this assessment is public.

[chelsea0011]

11. Pentagon Pete I like it.

Little Pee Pee

[chouchou]

12. I wouldn't trust him to clean out the Whitehouse ashtrays.

[paleotn]

14. Big country. Hard for even the US to find and get them all.

Gee, haven't we seen this before?

[JohnnyRingo]

17. I suspect Israel may somehow be behind this "leak".

Whether it's a fact or not, it can be seen as a excuse to carry on Netanyahu's bloody mission of eliminating Iran from the face of the Earth. It can be used as a reason to keep us in it with him to the end. Bibi simply can't continue the fight without us.

"During war the first casualty is always the truth".

[FakeNoose]

21. Israel has some very smart and stealthy hackers

... and another possibility is they might be in cahoots with the world's best hackers: the ones who work for Pootie.

[Prairie Gates]

19. At least one point of the ceasefire was Israel restocking their interceptors

which were failing badly in the last week before the halt. Even daylight strikes in Tel Aviv were becoming common.

They've done some modest restocking with numerous flights from Germany, but it is not enough if Iran chooses to really go in. It's also clear that Hezbollah is bogging down the IDF ground forces in Southern Lebanon and they're far more effective than Israeli intelligence thought they would be in using mobile launchers to send missiles into Israel, further degrading the interceptor inventory.

(New York Times: In New War With Israel, Hezbollah Defies Notion That It Was Crippled)

[COL Mustard]

24. Two weeks won't allow for much restocking.

It takes 2-3 years to build an interceptor. They're quite complex and require a lot of specialized manufacturing.

[Prairie Gates]

25. Correct

They're trying to get everything they can into theater, but it's not even fractionally enough.

[usonian]

23. Looks like Pete's had another "Come to Jesus" moment with the sacramental wine.

[republianmushroom]

26. Whiskey Pete, seems to lie like the Commander in Chief.

what an administration.

[MO_Dem]

27. Straight off the Group W bench

reference Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant

[LetMyPeopleVote]

29. Hegseth's key Iran claim collapses as US intel finds Iran has thousands of missiles

Iran has been preparing for attacks for a long time and the missiles and launchers are well protected

Hegseth's key Iran claim collapses as US intel finds Iran has thousands of missiles

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-04-11T01:01:15.758Z

https://www.rawstory.com/hegseth-iran-2676700861

One of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's main defenses of the U.S. decision to negotiate a controversial ceasefire with Iran is that its ballistic missile program has been "functionally destroyed."

But that claim has now been shot down by U.S. intelligence assessments, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

"Iran still has thousands of ballistic missiles in its arsenal that it could use by retrieving launchers from underground storage areas, according to American officials familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments," said the report. "The assessments come as the U.S. is working to cement a cease-fire that would fully open the Strait of Hormuz and also insulate Iran, American troops and states in the region from further attacks. Some American officials said they are concerned that Iran will use the break in fighting to reconstitute some of its missile arsenal."

The conflict has taken a toll on Iran, with around half of its missile stockpile lost, the assessment found — but "it retains thousands of medium- and short-range ballistic missiles that could be pulled out of hiding or retrieved from underground sites, said U.S. and Israeli officials."

[SamuelTheThird]

31. Clusterfuck extraordinaire

[Cha]

32. A fox "news" Liar LIES in his Sec of "War" Crminal

post. What a surprise.