Hegseth says Iran won't be a 'politically correct' war as he lays out US objectives: 'No democracy-building exercise'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Monday 02 March 2026 11:05 EST


Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth championed President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran in a press conference Monday morning, refuting concerns from the “fake news” media and “political left” that the conflict would lead to an “endless war.” “To the media outlets and political left screaming ‘endless wars,’ stop. This is not Iraq. This is not endless,” Hegseth said. “Our generation knows better and so does this president.”

The defense secretary insisted the strikes, which have led to a deadly exchange of fire in the region, would prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and harming more Americans, even as the operation has already killed four service members. Hegseth pushed back on other assertions about Trump’s motivation in conducting the strikes, saying America was doing things “on our terms.”

“No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise, no politically-correct wars. We fight to win,” Hegseth said. Striking a dogmatic tone, Hegseth praised U.S. partners who supported the mission, “unlike so many of our traditional allies, who wring their hands and clutch their pearls, hemming and hawing about the use of force.”

But when pressed with further questions about the goal of the operation, how many U.S. troops were involved and when officials anticipated its end, Hegseth declined to answer, taking up a more familiar tone toward the media. "I heard the question: ‘about four weeks’,” Hegseth said, referring to a reporter’s query about whether the operation would take four weeks.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/iran-strikes-trump-hegseth-speech-b2930211.html

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[Blues Heron]

1. Dumb drunkard bravado

[Munu]

2. 'No democracy-building exercise' ???

Hegseth actually said something I believe this time.

Democracy? Pffft! Isn't there some would be crown prince waiting in the wings?

[markodochartaigh]

30. Well, he's correct there.

It was an exercise in anti-democracy when the US deposed the democratically elected leader Mossadegh and installed the shah. It was also an anti-democratic exercise (in Iran and in the US) when Reagan's henchmen negotiated with the mullahs to hold the US hostages until he had won the presidency.

If Kegsbreath said 2+2=4 I would agree with him, even though being on the same side of anything with him is uncomfortable for me.

[SamuelTheThird]

3. So, failed state

Which spawns the Shiite version of ISIS, only with a lot more resources

[Zorro]

4. He's telling us the nuclear option is not off the table

[niyad]

6. Bingo!!!

[niyad]

5. So you and cadet bonespurs get your asses over there, in full gear.

[Bengus81]

41. #SendBarron still trending bigly.........

[CousinIT]

7. So Democracy is too "politically correct" to be bothered with

at home or abroad. Same with rules of engagement.

All of that is just too "woke" for the MAGAManosphere.

[sop]

8. Will the exiled crown prince, 65-year-old Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed Shah of Iran, become the new

Supreme Leader and set up a constitutional monarchy, like his dead father? Will Iran become a secular democracy like it was under Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iran's last elected leader, who was overthrown by the CIA in 1953? Will the religious extremists retain power? Or will it be absolute chaos?

[EX500rider]

23. Iran was a constitutional monarchy under Mosaddegh

Last edited Tue Mar 3, 2026, 02:13 PM - Edit history (1)

Mohammad Mosaddegh was just the Prime Minister.

Also he was not the shinning beacon of democracy many seem to think.

Since his support was mostly urban he tried to put illiterate voters into a separate category from literate voters and which would have increased the representation of the urban population.

He also ending the 1952 election before rural votes could be fully counted.
According to historian Ervand Abrahamian: "Realizing that the opposition would take the vast majority of the provincial seats, Mosaddegh stopped the voting as soon as 79 deputies�just enough to form a parliamentary quorum�had been elected.

He also introduced a single-clause bill to parliament to grant him emergency "dictatorial decree" powers for six months to pass "any law he felt necessary for obtaining not only financial solvency, but also electoral, judicial, and educational reforms.
In January 1953, successfully pressing Parliament to extend his emergency powers for another 12 months.

Mosaddegh attempted to abolish Iran's centuries-old feudal agriculture sector by replacing it with a system of collective farming and government land ownership, which also centralized power in his government.

A large part of his support was the Tudeh Party, a Iranian Marxist-Leninist communist party supporting Moscow's aims, not a popular move in the west during the Cold War.

[Polybius]

43. There are too many militants in Iran right now for a democracy to work at this time

Sure, they can have free elections, but the people would likely elect a Hamas-type government and we'd be back to square one. The Shah is likely the best option now.

[Lonestarblue]

9. Exactly what is he winning? And how does he decide he's won? When Iran is nothing but smoking ruins?

I guess not following the rules of war is why the US killed 150 girls by bombing their school.

[GenThePerservering]

10. Fighting to win...what?

This failed weekend talking head hasn't the faintest idea what he's doing.

Get your drunken ass out there Hegseth if you're so horny for a war.

[Hugin]

11. No RoE?

That’s how F-15s get shot down by friendly fire.

Hic!breath is unusually pathetic.

[GenThePerservering]

12. X posted with Lone Star

And yeah - I suppose scores of dead children proves his 'warrior ethic'.

[JT45242]

13. Isn't telling subordinate to disregard rules of engagement (military protocol) a court martial offense?

Internationally -- it is a war crime.

But it seems like that is a violation of the military code of conduct

[liberalgunwilltravel]

14. It's past time Whisky Pete

Became intimately familiar with the practice of “fragging.” It was all the rage in Vietnam.

[pat_k]

15. Win what?

With no objective, beyond bombing the shit out of the country as a monumentally corrupt payoff to MBS and Netanyahu in exchange for billions shovelled into the felon's pockets, what exactly does "winning" even mean, you racist moron fuck?

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221061085

[pfitz59]

29. Correct. "Fight to win!"

Win what. If he had attended war college he would have learned about Otto von Bismarck and 'limited war'. Or perhaps about the Peloponnesian War where victory ultimately led to defeat. He's an idiot and a fool.

[Eugene]

16. So he wants to install Reza Pahlavi or some other compliant stooge to run Iran as a puppet state.

This is the freedom Dump is asking the Iranian people to rise up for?

Even from an amoral realpolitik angle, this statement is breathtakingly stupid.

[twodogsbarking]

17. He thinks he is a movie drill sergeant. If he yells and acts crazy people will respect him. Yeah, that works.

[mdbl]

19. Unfortunately it does with the magats.

[twodogsbarking]

21. Easy sell, eh.

[vanessa_ca]

18. I'm sure the global pedophile cabal which has wrought terror across the globe will get it right this time. -eom

I’m sure the global pedophile cabal which has wrought terror across the globe will get it right this time.

[Grins]

20. "Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred Pennyworth

"Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred Pennyworth

A (one of many) problem with stunted, smug, pig-ignorant wretches like Trump, Hegseth, and Rubio (even back to Bush II), is they never answer the next question: "And then what?" "What happens after you think you have "won?" And won what?

[Marie Marie]

22. Tough guy playing war with his soldiers.

How could Congress have approved this nasty, delusional drunk for Sec of DEFENSE (I refuse to call it by his new, tougher name!!)?

[alfredo]

24. It has already attained one goal,, we have stopped talking about Epstein.

[BumRushDaShow]

33. But Comer just did us a "solid" with this

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143625051

I am shocked that it wasn't dropped on a Friday where it could have been lost over the weekend but I think Epstein suddenly became a "distraction" from the no-plan disaster with Iran.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

25. These idiots keep contradicting each other

[Ilikepurple]

27. I'm not sure contradictions aren't built into their strategy.

Last edited Tue Mar 3, 2026, 02:08 AM - Edit history (1)

Hard to argue with a point of view that’s built on contradictions once tolerated. It seems that the administration is building an entirely new rational for aggression and expansion. Sort of like manifest destiny, but without the feigned morality. Man Fest destiny.

[fujiyamasan]

36. They just spout a bunch of words

Something woke, DEI, blah blah blah.

The question I have is simple… what’s the actual plan Hogshit?? What is ‘victory’ in this case? You kinda need to define that. So was the objective regime change? If Khananei is dead why is this still a war then? Are you expecting a formal surrender?

From what I recall it didn’t take long to depose Iraq’s government either. Given the DOD has a budget of nearly a trillion dollars, I’d expect it to be a walk in the park to take out weak paper tiger militaries.

[genxlib]

26. We should go ahead and register him a time slot at the Hague

He is a walking talking war crime.

[Bayard]

28. We don't need no stinkin' rules!

Once again, I believe this is about the oil, by any means necessary.

[C_U_L8R]

31. The Peter Principle is strong with this one

Hegseth just oozes incompetence... or is that the cheap scotch?
His tirades are simply ridiculous. How can the Generals put up with this putz?

[Klarkashton]

32. He sure has a simple minded outlook about all this.

[City Lights]

34. These clowns don't know whether they are coming or going.

They would figure out a way to screw up a one-car funeral.

Elect a clown; expect a circus.

[SunSeeker]

35. It is so tragic and horrifying that someone that stupid and unhinged is in charge of DoD. nt

[Marcuse]

37. In other words:

March 3, 2016

[MW67]

38. It goes without saying

At this point ,no one expects anything to be done correctly, in any way shape or form from this disastrous administration

[LudwigPastorius]

39. Hegseth must have a micropenis.

Every other word out of his mouth is hyper, pseudo-masculine bluster.

And BTW, Pete, we all know that this isn't about democracy-building, because you fascist bastards wouldn't know democracy if it crawled up your ass and and took up residence in your lower intestine.

[Blumancru]

40. No democracy building exercise?

At least he is being honest. His party is trying to end democracy here. No reason to expect they would favor it in Iran.
The whole world is on fire now and there is no safe place to go to.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

42. MaddowBlog-Pentagon's Hegseth slams journalists for emphasizing U.S. troop deaths in Iran war

The Trump administration is still trying to figure out how to talk about service members’ fatalities — and its efforts are not going well.

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/pentagons-hegseth-slams-journalists-for-emphasizing-u-s-troop-deaths-in-iran-war

The comments generated immediate criticism for their apparent callousness, but that didn’t stop Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth from making matters worse. With regard to weapons that killed American service members abroad, the former Fox News host said Monday: “Every once in a while, you might have a squirter that makes its way through.”

On Wednesday, the Pentagon chief kept going. The New Republic reported:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took time from his Wednesday briefing to complain about the media coverage of President Donald Trump’s unauthorized war on Iran.

‘When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it’s front-page news,’ Hegseth said. ‘I get it — the press only wants to make the president look bad, but try for once to report the reality.’

In other words, the beleaguered secretary believes that independent news organizations covered the war deaths of American service members not because the fatalities were important, but as part of a plot on the part of journalists to undermine the president......

Soon after, during a White House press briefing, a reporter asked press secretary Karoline Leavitt: “Is it the position of this administration that the press should not prominently cover the deaths of U.S. service members?”

The president’s chief spokesperson replied that the Republican administration expects journalists to “report on the success” of the mission. Leavitt added that she believes it’s “a fact” that the nation’s free press “does only want to make the president look bad.”

The White House’s focus, in other words, isn’t solely on a foreign war. Closer to home, it’s also about pushing a falsehood about independent news organizations that prioritize coverage of fallen American soldiers.