Hegseth gets shifty when asked about US deaths in Iran war

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, shown this past December.

During Friday’s Iran war briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took a page out of his boss’ the-buck-stops-nowhere playbook and turned strangely vague when asked to estimate U.S. casualties and wounded. Hegseth, not known for being silent, looked over to Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who didn’t provide a real answer, either.

“I mean, it's a bunch of a return to duty, so we've had a whole—a large, large majority—have gone in for some medical treatment and returned to duty,” Caine said. 

“But I want to clarify that,” Hegseth interjected. “I think what we've tried to do here is clarify those numbers rather than saying KIA [killed in action] or WIA [wounded in action]—wounded. Be more clear about that because the overwhelming majority, almost 90%, thank God, are returned to duty.” 

What is known is that at least 11 service members have died since the start of President Donald Trump’s war on Iran—and that the U.S. bombed an elementary school. Hegseth’s vague “almost 90%” sounds less like clarity and more like further proof of how reckless and dangerous the entire project is.

You start to see why Hegseth seems so eager for billionaire Larry Ellison to fully propagandize CNN.