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 4 days ago

Praise be the alt text

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

Has Iran even said thank you?

[–] rants_unnecessarily@piefed.social 51 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Did they even wear a suite?

[–] daychilde@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago

Or even just a single room?

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[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 181 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 week ago

Careful guys, Pete might be on here to downvote.

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[–] 8bittech@lemmy.world 127 points 1 week ago (3 children)

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

[–] paranoid@lemmy.world 53 points 1 week ago

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

[–] probable_possum@leminal.space 22 points 1 week ago (2 children)

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

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[–] ceenote@lemmy.world 86 points 1 week 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 1 week 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.

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

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

[–] hateisreality@lemmy.world 49 points 1 week ago

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

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

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

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[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 38 points 1 week 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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[–] DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world 38 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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 1 week ago (1 children)

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

[–] digitalFatteh@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Bit reminiscent of Baghdad Bob.  But now it Baghdad Barbie and Hesgeth shovelling the shit.

[–] WanderingThoughts@europe.pub 13 points 1 week ago

"The first casualty of war is the truth" remains as valid as ever.

[–] wuffah@lemmy.world 35 points 1 week ago (3 children)
[–] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 week ago

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

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[–] Bwaz@lemmy.world 34 points 1 week 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 1 week ago (2 children)

Success at distracting from the Epstein files

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[–] Wytch@lemmy.zip 34 points 1 week 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 1 week 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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[–] D_C@sh.itjust.works 32 points 1 week ago (3 children)

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

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[–] resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world 32 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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.

[–] PunnyName@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week 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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[–] rosco385@lemmy.wtf 27 points 1 week ago
[–] TwilitSky@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

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[–] tirateimas@lemmy.pt 23 points 1 week ago

What a clown

[–] DragonAce@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

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

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 20 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Holy fuck that press conference was the cribgiest thing I've ever seen.

This guy's brain is broken.

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[–] switcheroo@lemmy.world 20 points 1 week 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.

[–] UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 19 points 1 week ago

This dumb motherfucker thinks he invented carpet bombing because everyone else figured out that it doesn't work for shit.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 18 points 1 week 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?

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[–] StarryPhoenix97@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week 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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[–] fisch@lemmy.world 17 points 1 week 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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[–] Greyghoster@aussie.zone 17 points 1 week 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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[–] Insekticus@aussie.zone 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Whiskeyleaks over here is completely and utterly disconnected from reality.

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[–] MuskyMelon@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week 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.

[–] luciferofastora@feddit.org 14 points 1 week 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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[–] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 week ago

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

I don't think anybody doubted the US could decimate Iran's military. But that is a military objective - not a political goal. War is "politics by other means" after all and we have not yet heard a single rational idea for what America's goal is.

Iran's military being decimated does nothing for me. What is the goal you sociopath?

[–] Snowies@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yeah the American people don’t seem to respond well to their military being used in an unprovoked genocide.

The Iranian government is decentralized and its people are radicalized by the war crimes being committed against them.

The blood of children doesn’t easily wash off.

They will never surrender to us.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Every time I accidentally pay attention to US politics in any way I end up with a headache, but...

Addressing the issue of the strait, Hegseth disparaged reporting that the US had not been prepared for Iran’s effective closure of shipping route. “The only thing prohibiting transit in [Hormuz] right now is Iran shooting at shipping,” Hegseth said. “It is open for transit should Iran not do that.”

...what?

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[–] TerdFerguson@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Mind of a child psychopath, the kind you would find on the Xbox Live Call of Duty servers shouting the N-word over everyone else while they were trying to just play. He thinks this is all really awesome and cool.

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