The Secretary of Defense/War Served in Iraq

In a revealing passage of his 2024 book The War on Warriors, Pete Hegseth — now U.S. Secretary of Defense — admits that while deployed in Iraq he told his platoon to ignore legal guidance from military lawyers (JAG officers) on the accepted “rules of engagement.” (The Guardian) According to Hegseth, the lawyers’ instructions on when it was legally acceptable to fire — for instance, waiting until an enemy with a rocket-propelled grenade actually aimed and prepared to fire — were “nonsense” and could get soldiers killed. (The Guardian) Instead, he instructed troops to “engage and destroy” any enemy they believed posed a threat. (The Guardian)

Hegseth’s account reflects a broader dismissal of international humanitarian law and the constraints imposed by the Geneva Conventions, which he argues hamper American “warfighters.” (The Guardian) He goes further: praising a former commander previously reprimanded for ordering indiscriminate killings, praising a “kill-coin” mindset, and calling for granting troops the “benefit of the doubt” even when mistakes occur. (The Guardian)

Legal experts strongly push back. As David M. Crane — former prosecutor and longtime JAG lawyer — explains, rules of engagement and the laws of war exist precisely to prevent atrocities like those at My Lai or in Fallujah. (The Guardian) Violating them, Crane warns, could expose entire chains of command — potentially up to the president — to war-crime liability. (The Guardian)

Hegseth’s public admission — coming amid ongoing scrutiny over other controversial military operations — raises urgent questions about accountability, the role of legal oversight in armed conflict, and what can happen when warfighters are told they answer only to their own judgment.