this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2026
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US defense head is eager to frame operation as a success – and slam journalists for not portraying it in a positive light

Pete Hegseth on Friday again claimed the US military campaign against Iran has been an unprecedented success, using a Pentagon press conference to accuse journalists of downplaying Washington’s supposed gains on the battlefield.

Speaking alongside the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, the US defense secretary claimed Iran had been left without a functioning air force, navy or missile defense network after 13 days of strikes, and said the combined US-Israeli air campaign had hit more than 15,000 targets since the war began.

“The United States is decimating the radical Iranian regime’s military in a way the world has never seen before,” Hegseth told reporters.

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[–] BaroqueW@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

Praise be the alt text

[–] roserose56@lemmy.zip 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Positive about killing kids? In what twisted world? USA is sick bro.

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I'm by no means a religious person but if the Pope told me the antichrist exists in Trump and his buddies, I'd believe it

[–] RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world 217 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Has Iran even said thank you?

[–] rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social 51 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Did they even wear a suite?

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 29 points 4 days ago

Or even just a single room?

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[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 181 points 4 days ago (2 children)
[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 16 points 4 days ago

Careful guys, Pete might be on here to downvote.

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[–] Bwaz@lemmy.world 34 points 4 days ago (1 children)

A success at ...what? No goal was ever provided. He caused a lot of damage, killed a lot of people. Iranian conservative religious government (as well as USA's) is still in power. Iranian nuclear capability (so far, none) hasn't changed.

And a lot of us are still demanding release of ALL unredacted Trump-Epstein Files.

[–] Kintarian@lemmy.world 15 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Success at distracting from the Epstein files

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 3 days ago

also from the shutdown right now, which MSM isnt talking about due to iran war.

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[–] 8bittech@lemmy.world 127 points 4 days ago (3 children)

"Kiff come hold up the flag, and wavy it a little for God's sake"

[–] paranoid@lemmy.world 53 points 4 days ago

"That young man fills me with hope. Plus some other emotions which are weird and deeply confusing."

[–] probable_possum@leminal.space 22 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I thought it was Putin who sends wave after wave until the kill limit is reached.

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[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 38 points 4 days ago (1 children)

This dude was literally a talking head on Fox News.

There's no way there isn't hours of footage of him being negative about literally everything Obama and Biden did.

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[–] tirateimas@lemmy.pt 23 points 4 days ago

What a clown

[–] ceenote@lemmy.world 86 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Singling out CNN by name, Hegseth said: “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”

This fuckin guy just comes right out and says it...

[–] DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world 50 points 4 days ago

wp:David Ellison#Personal life

(my bold)

Ellison and his father are close associates of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[6] His father's first wife has described Larry as "an ardent Zionist" and he hosted the prime minister on his Hawaiian island in 2021.

[–] wuffah@lemmy.world 35 points 4 days ago (3 children)
[–] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 21 points 4 days ago

Unfair comparison, Zapp Brannigan is at least charming in his assholeness. Kegseth sets off my fight or fight instincts.

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[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 75 points 4 days ago (1 children)

People don't like murder. Suck it up and deal with it, Pete.

[–] arrrse@piefed.social 22 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Hey now, this is the best Pete can do, give him a little slack. Its not easy being an alcoholic psychopath

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[–] Atomic@sh.itjust.works 44 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I liked it better when I didn't know the names of various American ministers

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[–] D_C@sh.itjust.works 32 points 4 days ago (2 children)

"US Defence head..."
But they changed it to the Department of War, so that should read "US War head..."

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

There should be a Department of dictatorship.

Then we would have a Dick head.

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[–] hateisreality@lemmy.world 49 points 4 days ago

Fucking piece of shit, limp dicked, drunk Nazi traitor upset we don't support his fucking war crimes for Jesus?

[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world 32 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Fuck you, Pete. Fuck you, you piece of shit. Fuck you, you child-murderer.

You are the absolute, most bottom, horrible, disgusting, sub-human, terrible monster.

Hell is too good for you.

[–] rosco385@lemmy.wtf 27 points 4 days ago
[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 18 points 4 days ago (1 children)

and said the combined US-Israeli air campaign had hit more than 15,000 targets since the war began.

How many of those targets were schools, hospitals, cultural heritage sites, bazaars, cafes, and/or residential districts?

[–] blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 4 days ago

They're just calling where the bomb landed a target

[–] BaroqueW@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Couldn't dream of a better picture to illustrate this article

[–] northernlights@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The picture is blocked by my pi-hole so I only see the alt text: "A grimacing man wearing a small suit gestures as he speaks into a microphone." LOL

[–] TwilitSky@lemmy.world 24 points 4 days ago (1 children)

What I love is now that they know it bothers him EVERY shot is him looking ridiculous.

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[–] DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world 38 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (9 children)

(my bold)

“The United States is decimating the radical Iranian regime’s military in a way the world has never seen before,” Hegseth told reporters.

said the ignoramus.

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[–] WanderingThoughts@europe.pub 37 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Reminds me of those German radio messages that always reported glorious victories, but every day the victory was a bit closer to Berlin.

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[–] Wytch@lemmy.zip 34 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's bad enough they have to do a fascism, worse that it's a stupid fascism. But do they have to fucking whine about it constantly too? God damn

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 34 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Well, yes. The nature of fascism is exactly to whine about things exactly like this.

This behavior is a foundational element of the fascist cult of the leader, where the state head is presented as an infallible, almost superhuman figure whose every action is a historic triumph. Because the leader cannot fail, any reality that doesn't align with their self-proclaimed brilliance is framed as a failure of the media or the public to be sufficiently "grateful" or "loyal." Mussolini was a master of this, frequently attacking journalists as shirkers or cowards for not practicing militant journalism and failing to recognize the supposed civilizing success of his brutal campaigns. To a fascist, a lack of active, ecstatic praise from the press isn't just a difference of opinion; it is viewed as a form of national betrayal and a "stab in the back" by internal enemies.

By constantly complaining about not getting enough credit, these leaders deliberately cultivate a siege mentality among their followers. Hitler used this tactic to delegitimize any information source he didn't control, asserting that "intellectuals" and the media were too timid or corrupt to champion his military genius. This framing transforms the leader into a tireless, misunderstood martyr who is being let down by a cynical elite. It is a calculated propaganda move designed to turn a supporter’s pride into a protective, weaponized anger against the "ungrateful" press, ensuring that the only acceptable narrative is one of constant, uncritical victory.

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[–] fisch@lemmy.world 17 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, how about we all be a little more positive about the great war he started. Enjoy it a little bit, goddamn!

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[–] luciferofastora@feddit.org 14 points 4 days ago (2 children)

This guy wants a "Warrior Ethos" in the armed forces.

Not a military, whose members serve the civil populace and hopefully eventually return to that populace, get help reintegrating and contributing their perspective and experience to the discourse about war. He wants the civilians to call for blood and the ~~soldiers~~ warriors to eagerly shed it.

Major Boozeth is a great example of the type of person that should not be allowed to represent the civil side of civil-military relationship.

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[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 29 points 4 days ago (4 children)

This country is run by 12 year olds. Examine how they act, how they talk, who they raped at Epstein Island, etc..

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[–] StarryPhoenix97@lemmy.world 18 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I was thinking about this on the drive home and needed to log in to actually share this bit of craziness.

One of the excuses that they're using for bombing these school kids is to say that their intel on the area was about ten years out-of-date. Which is funny, because ten years ago was Trump’s first term, and a massive data breach happened around that time that cost U.S. intelligence agencies a huge number of agents.

So, no matter how you slice it, this is on the Trump administration for messing up things he’s too stupid to understand. It takes time to build up assets who can provide information on any given area. It’s possible that there was a school there specifically because they knew the location was compromised.

And even if you want to handwave that data breach as not Trump’s fault, (ignoring the fact that he starting this war). He cut more intelligence jobs when he got into office last year. Who knows what USAID was doing, Who knows what paper projects he cut that had aid in the area or fronts for CIA opperations. His military didn't have current data on the region becuase everything he has done has fucked up opperations for his military.

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[–] DragonAce@lemmy.world 22 points 4 days ago

This guy is worse than a fucking Family Guy parody of an over the top limp dick douchebag.

[–] ChetManly@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Those suit coats make him look like a used car salesman

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[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

IRAN doesnt need a efficient AF, they are having success with missiles, drones, or propaganda, and war of attrition(targeting oil producing countries and mining the strait of hormuz).

[–] switcheroo@lemmy.world 20 points 4 days ago

"How dare you peasants not praise me when we bombed a school then bombed it again to make sure! We fuck kids one way or another!"

That's what that shitiot sounds like.

Fuck off Kegsbreath, you worthless pedo-protector.

[–] MuskyMelon@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago

Cause we're strong enough, we're winnest enough and goshdarn it people should fear me!

Fucking pathetic Pete. You're just fucking pathetic.

[–] Greyghoster@aussie.zone 17 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Billionaires are always about the truth! Buy up the media to spread billionaire news not what is actually happening.

“But Hegseth couldn’t help himself. He had to go further. “The sooner David Ellison takes over that network the better,” he added. In those 10 words, the Defence Secretary said the quiet part out loud.”

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/with-10-damning-words-pete-hegseth-says-the-quiet-part-out-loud-20260314-p5oafr.html

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[–] Zink@programming.dev 7 points 3 days ago

It legitimately feels like he is trying to outdo all the others in the administration in mustache-twirling-villain dark side points.

He's like some kind of extra-privileged extra-vain prep school Biff Tannen caricature.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 9 points 4 days ago

This is positive news. To me it means that all of those billionaire owners of all that big media still haven't been able to wrap their hands around the neck of truth.

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