Source: CounterPunch
by Dean Baker
“I’m going to give our ‘Secretary of War’ a little credit. I will assume that even someone as openly bloodthirsty as Hegseth would not deliberately blow up a school building filled with little girls. But this tragic accident that led to the death of at least 165 Iranian girls between the ages of 7 and 12 was the direct result of Hegseth’s policy. The main point of the ‘woke’ rules of engagement that Hegseth has constantly derided, and told the military to ignore, is to prevent tragic accidents like the bombing of a girls’ school in the middle of the day. The rules are designed to try to minimize civilian casualties. This means reviewing designated bombing sites to make sure they are, in fact, military targets.” (03/16/26)