politics
March 30, 2026
How Pete Hegseth Is Putting Americans—Soldiers and Civilians—at Risk
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TL;DR
- Two incidents under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership are highlighted: the accidental killing of 170 Iranian schoolgirls by the U.S. Navy and an apparent war crime against shipwrecked suspected drug traffickers.
- Hegseth served in Iraq in 2006-07 with the 101st Airborne Division, a unit that also had a legacy of war crimes during its 2005-06 tour.
- A specific war crime by soldiers from the 101st involved the kidnapping, gang-rape, and murder of a 14-year-old girl and her family near Mahmoudiyah in March 2006.
- This atrocity led to retaliation by al-Qaeda in Iraq, resulting in the death of one U.S. soldier and the kidnapping of two others from the same company.
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