What do you know, it was Hegseth’s fears of wokeness that might have doomed the school in Iran

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing renewed scrutiny and significant backlash from top military officials after he announced further cuts to military lawyers this week. As the investigation into the strike that decimated an Iranian school, Senator Andy Kim recently attributed the tragedy to Hegseth’s controversial decision to gut civilian protection offices. Now, it seems many in the Pentagon saw this kind of tragedy coming.

High-ranking military leaders had unsuccessfully pushed back against Hegseth’s plan to slash these critical oversight offices, like the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence. These offices are designed to limit risks to civilian populations and investigate deaths. Then-Central Command chief Erik Kurilla, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown, and Vice-chair Adm. Christopher Grady opposed the cuts. 

They argued that the staff was essential for preventing risks before U.S. strikes and for probing deadly Pentagon attacks. According to Politico, these officials believed these roles would ultimately save resources for military operations. Despite these warnings, Hegseth chose to dramatically reduce the number of employees working on civilian harm issues, dropping from 200 to less than 40. 

It is insane that this went unreported

This unprecedented level of opposition highlights the deep tension between top military officials and their civilian leader over the rules of engagement in combat. Hegseth has even called these rules “stupid,” which tells you a lot about his perspective.

The impact of these cuts has been severe. The Pentagon’s civilian harm offices, along with similar branches at combatant commands, saw their staff slashed by more than 90 percent. The Joint Special Operations Command, which oversees ongoing attacks against alleged drug runners, had its civilian harm office completely eliminated. 

This tragic school strike, which killed over 170 students, is believed to be the largest U.S.-led killing of civilians in decades. It occurred next to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base during the initial hours of ‘Operation Epic Fury.’ Democrats have seized on this incident to call for Hegseth’s resignation. Wes Bryant, the Pentagon’s former chief of civilian harm assessments, put it quite plainly, saying, “As it turns out, when you kill less civilians, you tend to be putting your resources toward killing the enemy.” 

The Pentagon, for its part, released a statement saying its civilian harm offices are “undergoing a strategic reassessment to inform its future reorganization,” to integrate these functions directly into the combatant commands. The department claims it “continues to recognize the importance of civilian harm mitigation and remains confident in our military’s ability to strike with precision while minimizing civilian casualties.” 

The underlying motivation for these drastic cuts, according to Bryant, was a perceived issue with “wokeness.” Bryant said, “It said ‘civilian protection,’ and that’s woke,” referencing Hegseth’s efforts to eliminate diversity and equity programs and partnerships, which he believes undermine the military’s core missions. He concluded, “Ultimately, it was going to be cut.”