Pete Hegseth’s Holy War Is an Unholy Nightmare

Source: Jeet Heer

Jeet Heer is a Canadian journalist and author established as national affairs correspondent for The Nation magazine, with prior roles at The New Republic and contributions to The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and others. He received the 2010 Rollins Award for co-editing A Comics Studies Reader and served on the 2016 Scotiabank Giller Prize jury. He hosts The Nation's podcast The Time of Monsters since May 2022, rated 4.3/51 reviews.

Source: The Nation

The Nation is a magazine publishing articles, podcasts, and newsletters on politics, world events, economy, and culture, with a focus on opinion and analysis pieces. No fact-checking ratings or error track records appear in the provided content from its homepage or Wikipedia entry. Its reliance on subscriptions, donations, and ads incentivizes content appealing to readers sympathetic to its coverage, potentially prioritizing engagement over neutral reporting.

Source: Pete Hegseth

Pete Hegseth is identified as a former television personality and current U.S. Secretary of Defense (29th, serving since 2025 per Knowledge Graph). He studied politics at Princeton University and served as publisher of an unnamed student publication there. Search results lack detailed media output, fact-checking records, or independent verification of his reporting accuracy.

Factual Error

Quotes Pope Leo XIV as condemning the war in specific terms: “Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war, He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.” during Palm Sunday Mass.

Presents a non-existent papal condemnation as fact to contrast Hegseth's prayer with mainstream Christianity, implying Hegseth's views are fringe even among Christians.

Missing Context

The Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school in Minab was located adjacent to or previously part of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) compound, which was targeted in the strike.

This provides critical context explaining why the site was targeted, changing it from an unprovoked "horrific war crime" on a random school to a strike on a military-linked area with civilian proximity issues.

Emotional Manipulation

Uses loaded terms like "bloodcurdling tones of religious extremism," "dangerous fanatic," "extremist belligerence," "mass slaughter," "unholy nightmare" to describe Hegseth's prayer and actions.

Transforms a verified prayer for troops (with violent language common in wartime prayers) into demonic fanaticism, priming readers to see Hegseth as unhinged rather than a believer supporting soldiers.

Missing Context

The 2026 US-Iran war followed years of tensions over Iran's nuclear program, ballistic missiles, and proxy attacks via groups like Houthis; US strikes initiated after brinkmanship reported Feb 18, 2026.

Article implies US crusade without cause; this omits Iranian provocations, framing US as sole aggressor in a "new crusade."

Source Credibility

Relies heavily on Mikey Weinstein of Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) for quote warning of "civil war," without noting MRFF's activist agenda against Christian expression in military.

MRFF has filed 200+ complaints against Hegseth's services; presents biased activist as neutral expert, stacking anti-Hegseth sources (WaPo, NYT, Nation self-cites).

Framing

Labels Hegseth's verified anti-DEI views from his book as "far-right identity politics" and ties to "purging prominent Black and female officers."

Frames merit-based promotions (per Pentagon) as racist purges without evidence of performance issues, implying white male favoritism.

Missing Context

Claims Hegseth violated "long-standing norms" on sectarian prayers without noting military chaplains often lead faith-specific services.

Exaggerates as unprecedented proselytizing; right-leaning coverage (Fox) notes historical precedent for prayers in military.

Factual Error

Fabricates a quote from Pope Leo XIV condemning the war and prayers for violence: “Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war, He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage an war, but rejects them.”

Uses a fake papal endorsement to portray Hegseth's prayer as opposed by mainstream Christianity, creating false ecumenical outrage.

Cherry-Picking

Cites self-published Nation articles (Klare, Malekafzali) and left outlets (WaPo, NYT) exclusively; ignores right-leaning defenses of prayer as standard military tradition.

Creates echo chamber consensus that Hegseth's actions are unprecedented extremism, omitting balanced coverage.

Missing Context

Hegseth's prayer quotes a military chaplain's prayer used before troops captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in 2026, not original composition.

Frames as Hegseth's personal fanaticism; actually reciting established military prayer reduces novelty and personal extremism.