Pete Hegseth sets the tone for Trump’s politically incorrect war on Iran

Pete Hegseth sets the tone for Trump’s politically incorrect war on Iran In a combative press conference, the Pentagon chief dodged questions about the goals of the US military’s Iran operation Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox L eave it to Pete Hegseth , the ex-Fox News host now leading the Pentagon, to reframe the massive US-Israeli military operation in Iran as an act of resistance against political correctness: the first based regime-change war of the Maga era. In a combative press conference at the Pentagon on Monday , Hegseth brought his anti-PC ethos to defend exactly what Donald Trump has said he did not want: to embroil the US in a major intervention in the Middle East with no clear timeline for exit. But this won’t be like the last generation’s wars, Hegseth insisted. Operation Epic Fury was being fought “on our terms, with maximum authorities”, and without our “traditional allies who wring their hands and clutch their pearls hemming and hawing about the use of force”. When it comes to war fighting, the Trump administration are the children of the US forever wars in the Middle East. Both Hegseth and JD Vance served in Iraq, and Trump has often prided himself on being a persistent critic of that war. Vance in particular has been a weather vane for the administration’s creep toward military action, warning in a Washington Post interview against “overlearning the lessons of the past. Just because one president screwed up a military conflict doesn’t mean we can never engage in military conflict again.” By Monday, both Hegseth and Trump himself had said that they wouldn’t rule out putting boots on the ground – leaving open the potential for a mission creep, despite their boasts that they were not in Iran to enable a democratic transition, let alone to engage in “nation-building”. And the Israeli strikes in Lebanon, as well as the Iranian ballistic missile strikes across the region and the deaths of four US service mem...