#defense-secretary-hegseth

#defense-secretary-hegseth

The provocative military activity has led to speculative conversation about what it would take to invade a country twice the population and three times the territory of Iraq.

The Pentagon blackballed its own newspaper from covering its own press conference? Reminder, Stars & Stripes employees are US Army civilians. Their editorial independence is protected by Congress specifically to prevent political leaders from feeding troops propaganda.

The White House is seeking a 10 percent cut to nondefense spending, proposing a reduction of $73 billion from federal programs outside the military, targeting environmental initiatives.

"To accelerate current weapons development timelines, DARPA is considering an alternative development paradigm to increase the nation's magazine depth and breadth."

Hegseth's financial broker inquired about a multimillion-dollar investment in BlackRock's Defense Industrials Active ETF, which invests in global defense and security-related companies.

Iran has accused the U.S. and Israel of killing more than 1,300 civilians and striking over 10,000 civilian sites during the first 12 days of the war. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described Tuesday as the "most intense day" of U.S. attacks on Iran to date.

In military terms, this means that even those who have surrendered will be killed, explains Jacqueline Hellman, an expert in international law at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The statement "alludes to a practice that is expressly prohibited," she told DW, adding that, as mere rhetoric, this is not punishable. But, she explained, such a statement could be classified as a war crime if it is formulated as an order and results in corresponding actions by the armed forces.

The MAGA crew does relatively little reporting, so most coverage of the US military is now happening from outside the Pentagon's five walls. Journalists from some traditional outlets were allowed to attend this morning's press conference with Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine. But Hegseth only answered Q's from his chosen outlets.

The U.S. military has fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles in four weeks of war with Iran, burning through the precision weapons at a rate that has alarmed some Pentagon officials.

But logistical consistency, like coherence and gravitas, does not characterize the new NDS. It is a document that supposedly nests within the National Security Strategy, explaining at greater length the implications of overall policy for the armed forces. The 2026 version does not do that. Rather, it restates some of the basic priorities of the Trump administration but for the most part confines itself to flattery of the president, insults, and bombast.