Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered the following explanation for the deaths of at least four American servicemembers during “Operation Epic Fury,” the ongoing U.S. offensive against Iran that began over the weekend:
“We have air defense systems, and a lot’s coming in, and you hit most of it — and we absolutely do — we have incredible air defenders. Every once in a while you might have one, unfortunately — we call it a ‘squirter’ — that makes its way through and in that particular case it happened to hit a tactical operations center.”
Hegseth managed to throw in a snazzy hand gesture to more visually describe the trajectory of this “squirter.” The moment felt central to an unspoken throughline at the briefing: Americans are dead and more deaths are expected.
Donald Trump released a video acknowledging as much on Sunday, announcing the deaths of three service members. “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends, that’s the way it is,” the president said. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed the president while speaking next to Hegseth at the Pentagon on Monday, noting that the military expects “to take additional losses” as operations continue. (The death of a fourth American was announced around the time Hegseth and Caine were speaking on Monday.)“We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it,” Hegseth said. “An effort of this scope will include casualties. War is hell and always will be.”
Hegseth’s use of the word “war” here is notable given that Congress — the sole entity in the federal government granted the authority to officially declare war — has not done so. The offensive against Iran is vastly unpopular, and threatens a destabilizing quagmire in the Middle East that large swaths of Americans who lived through the decades-long “Wars on Terror” reflexively reject. As always though, a certain contingent of sycophantic Republicans and administration officials have thrown their full support behind the president. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) suggested some service members killed in Afghanistan and Iraq may have been “Nazis” in a tweet attempting to dunk on progressive Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, who months ago was embroiled in controversy over a tattoo linked to Nazi symbology (Platner claims he had no idea and has since had it covered up). Trump’s former national security adviser and current U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz responded to news that multiple service members involved in operations in Iran were killed or injured with the platitude, “Freedom is never free.”
Trump, Hegseth, and Caine have made clear that the price will continue to rise. Trump and Hegseth have both declined to rule out the possibility of “boots on the ground.” Hegseth, insisting that this was not another amorphic “forever war” in the Middle East, refused to estimate the timeframe for the operation. “I would never hang a timeframe from our perspective. The commander in chief sets the op tempo and terms of this fight,” Hegseth said.
Perhaps even more concerning was Hegseth’s bold declaration that the United States would not be abiding by nationally and internationally recognized “rules of engagement.”
“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. “Regardless of what so-called international institutions say is unleashing the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history. B2 fighters, drones, missiles and, of course, classified effects, all on our terms, with maximum authorities. 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,” the Pentagon chief emphasized.
Yet both time and lives are being spent in Iran in a manner the vast majority of Americans think is too high a cost.
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