Hegseth Brags That They’re Not Following Rules of Engagement in Iran
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth basically admitted during a press conference Monday that he doesn’t care about military rules of engagement, and is grateful that Israel doesn’t either.
“Israel has clear missions as well for which we are grateful. Capable partners, as we’ve said since the beginning, capable partners are good partners, unlike so many of our traditional allies who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force,” Hegseth said, scoffing at America’s allies in Europe as well as international law meant to minimize civilian casualties and prevent war crimes.
“America, regardless of what so-called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise airpower campaign in history. B-2s, fighters, drones, missiles, and, of course, classified effects, all on our terms, with maximum authorities,” Hegseth added. “No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win and we don’t waste time, or lives.”
Hegseth: "Israel has clear missions as well for which we are grateful. Capable partners are good partners, unlike so many of our traditional allies who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force ... no stupid rules of engagement." pic.twitter.com/j7YsjmHhg3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 2, 2026
Hegseth is spitting in the face of not only the U.N. but any restraints or checks on targets. He also seems to be disregarding the need to plan the aftermath of a wanton war, making America’s botched Iraq reconstruction look almost quaint. It’s quite evident that the lives he is referring to aren’t the civilians in Iran or the rest of the region.
Invoking Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are facing charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity from the International Criminal Court over the country’s massacre in Gaza, further shows that Hegseth is happy to bomb Iran with impunity, regardless of the human cost.
For the last three years, Israel has reduced much of Gaza to rubble, wiped out entire families, and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians across Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and Iran. Now Hegseth is willing to enlist the U.S. to follow the same playbook. Israel used artificial intelligence in its mass, reckless targeting in Gaza. Hegseth doesn’t care about the consequences if the U.S. does the same, or perhaps even worse.