Hegseth's "Warfighter" Culture Led to Elementary School Massacre in Iran

The Strike

On the morning of February 28, parents in the Iranian city of Minab rushed through traffic to pick up their children from Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School after an early dismissal. They arrived to find the building reduced to rubble. An American Tomahawk missile had struck the school, which sat adjacent to a military installation. One hundred and sixty-eight civilians died. More than one hundred were younger than 12 years old.

The evidence clearly shows the United States carried out the attack. Tomahawk missiles are sophisticated, precise weapons. According to reporting from The New York Times, outdated intelligence appears to have misidentified the school as a target. But the school was clearly labeled on maps. Satellite imagery showed a children's sports field. This was not an unavoidable accident. It was a preventable tragedy that raises serious questions about targeting decisions made under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's command.

Hegseth's War on Military Lawyers

Hegseth's contempt for the laws of war predates his tenure at the Pentagon. In his 2024 book The War on Warriors, he describes Judge Advocates General—the military lawyers who advise commanders on rules of engagement and legal compliance—as impediments to killing. He brags about calling them "JAG-offs" when he served in the Army.

As secretary, he has acted on that contempt. One of his first moves was purging the top ranks of the JAG corps. In March, he directed an overhaul of the military's legal offices, gutting the very structures designed to prevent incidents like the Minab school strike. He has also dismantled offices responsible for civilian harm mitigation efforts, even as the United States conducts operations across multiple theaters.

This is not about bureaucratic streamlining. This is about removing the guardrails that prevent war crimes.

"Maximum Lethality" and the Rush to AI

Hegseth's singular obsession is what he calls "maximum lethality." He has repeatedly suggested that laws of war exist only to bind the hands of the "warfighter," whom he encourages to "hunt, dismantle, demoralize, destroy" the enemy. His vision of warfare has no room for restraint, oversight, or accountability.

At the same time, the Pentagon is under pressure to conduct the war in Iran at massive speed and scale. Hegseth has accelerated the integration of artificial intelligence into targeting decisions through the department's "Project Maven" initiative. Over the first 10 days of the Iran war, the Pentagon claims to have struck 5,000 targets—a staggering operational tempo.

AI has potential to improve precision and reduce civilian casualties. But that requires proper integration and oversight. Under Hegseth, there is little evidence either exists. His recent conflict with AI company Anthropic—which raised concerns about autonomous weapons and mass surveillance—sent a clear message: he will not prioritize restraint when deploying AI systems.

Meanwhile, the Department of Defense has seen a 10 percent reduction in force over the last year. Fewer people. More targets. Faster decisions. Gutted oversight. The conditions for catastrophic error could not be more obvious.

The Human Cost

The Iranian Red Crescent reports that over 67,000 civilian facilities have been struck in three weeks of war. Hundreds of schools. Hundreds of health facilities. Water desalination plants. Residential areas. As many as 3 million Iranians have been displaced. While it is unclear which strikes are attributable to U.S. versus Israeli forces, the overwhelming pattern shows a disregard for humanitarian law and innocent human life.

This culture does not just harm civilians in combat zones. It puts U.S. service members at risk of violating their oaths or becoming complicit in war crimes. The Department of Veterans Affairs has identified exposure to "morally injurious events" as a risk factor for suicide. This is particularly alarming given that over 17 veterans take their own lives each day. Hegseth is actively increasing that risk.

Allies Are Backing Away

The security implications extend beyond individual tragedies. Allies and partners are already limiting cooperation with the U.S. military over concerns they may be enabling war crimes or extrajudicial killings. Hegseth's culture is eroding the partnerships that have kept American troops—and Americans at home—safer for decades.

The elementary school strike in Minab was not an isolated incident. It was the predictable result of a defense secretary who views legal oversight as an obstacle, who prizes lethality over legality, and who is rushing to deploy AI systems without adequate safeguards. Hegseth is not just tolerating civilian casualties. He is creating the conditions where they become routine.

One hundred children are dead because outdated intelligence and inadequate oversight allowed a missile to strike a clearly marked school. That is not the fog of war. That is a policy choice. And Pete Hegseth made it.