{"id":2517506,"date":"2025-12-04T12:40:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-war-crimes-hoax-was-always-about-taking-out-hegseth\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T12:43:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:43:30","slug":"the-war-crimes-hoax-was-always-about-taking-out-hegseth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-war-crimes-hoax-was-always-about-taking-out-hegseth\/","title":{"rendered":"The &#8216;War Crimes&#8217; Hoax Was Always About Taking Out Hegseth"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-war-crimes-hoax-was-always-about-taking-out-hegseth%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2517506&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article criticizes recent media coverage by The Washington Post accusing U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth of ordering a military strike that involved alleged &#8220;war crimes&#8221; against survivors of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-opposes-senate-resolution-to-stop-strikes-on-drug-cartels\/\" title=\"W...e House opposes Senate resolution to stop strikes on drug cartels\">suspected drug-smuggling boat<\/a>. It argues that this claim is a fabricated smear, highlighting that even The New York Times has contradicted the Post&#8217;s central allegations, noting that Hegseth&#8217;s directive did not explicitly call for killing survivors. Additional reporting suggests survivors were considered valid targets due to ongoing opposed actions, with legal oversight involved.<\/p>\n<p>The piece portrays the Post&#8217;s story as part of a broader, ongoing coordinated disinformation campaign by Democrat-aligned media to discredit Hegseth. It recounts previous smear attempts tied to his faith, personal life, and professional history, noting these efforts failed to prevent his confirmation but persist in attempts to force his removal.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth is presented as a reform-minded leader challenging the established military bureaucracy by reversing policies seen as harmful, including racial and gender-based initiatives, COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and problematic recruitment trends. His direct engagement with military personnel and criticism of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >senior officers&#8217; failures supposedly threaten<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-hoft-from-tgp-presents-at-transform-washington-on-january-6-web-conference-video\/\" title=\"Joe Hoft from TGP Presents at \u201cTransform Washington on January 6\u201d Web conference (VIDEO)\">military-industrial complex<\/a> and entrenched interests.<\/p>\n<p>The article concludes that while Hegseth, like any public figure, deserves fair scrutiny, the relentless Democratic media campaign against him is politically motivated, aiming to restore the previous ineffective status quo rather than improve the U.S. military&#8217;s condition.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>It&rsquo;s a day that ends in &ldquo;-y,&rdquo; which means that America&rsquo;s propaganda media have further discredited themselves by perpetuating <em>yet another<\/em> bogus hoax about Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the past week, these so-called &ldquo;defenders of democracy&rdquo; and their Democrat allies have been salivating at an anonymously sourced Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2025\/11\/28\/hegseth-kill-them-all-survivors-boat-strike\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hit piece<\/a> against War Secretary Pete Hegseth. As The Federalist&rsquo;s Brianna Lyman <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/02\/wapos-latest-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">summarized<\/a>, the gist of this little hatchet job is that Hegseth supposedly &ldquo;&rsquo;gave a spoken directive&rsquo; to &lsquo;kill everybody&rsquo; after a Sept. 2 strike left two smugglers &lsquo;clinging to the smoldering wreck&#8217;&rdquo; in the Caribbean. <\/p>\n<p>The implication, of course, is that Hegseth is guilty of wrongdoing and alleged &ldquo;war crimes&rdquo; &mdash; a term Democrats quickly <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenBlumenthal\/status\/1995863408324083717?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">latched onto<\/a> to (once again) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepPettersen\/status\/1996395685915119617?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">call<\/a> for the war secretary&rsquo;s resignation. (The Post&rsquo;s article conveniently came days after several Democrat lawmakers <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/11\/24\/pentagon-could-recall-democrat-senator-for-court-martial-over-seditious-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fomented fears<\/a> about the Pentagon giving &ldquo;illegal orders&rdquo; to U.S. service members.)<\/p>\n<p>But as Americans have come to learn in the days since the Post&rsquo;s &ldquo;bombshell&rdquo; dropped, all signs point to the hit piece being &mdash; wait for it &mdash; complete garbage. <\/p>\n<p>In a surprise move, The New York Times &mdash; yes <em>that<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/new-york-times\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hoax-peddling New York Times<\/a> &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/12\/02\/wapos-latest-hegseth-hoax-is-so-weak-even-nyt-can-see-through-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published<\/a> a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/12\/01\/us\/hegseth-drug-boat-strike-order-venezuela.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">story<\/a> contradicting the Post&rsquo;s central reported claim that Hegseth ordered military officials to &ldquo;kill everybody&rdquo; aboard the suspected drug-smuggling vessel. According to five U.S. officials who spoke with the outlet, while Hegseth ordered the strike on the boat, his &ldquo;directive did not specifically address what should happen if a first missile turned out not to fully accomplish all of those things&rdquo; and &ldquo;was not a response to surveillance footage showing that at least two people on the boat survived the first blast.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Post&rsquo;s shoddy &ldquo;reporting&rdquo; took yet another hit when ABC News&rsquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/14\/do-you-hear-yourself-vance-blasts-abc-host-for-trivializing-violent-gang-invasion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Martha &ldquo;Do You Hear Yourself?&rdquo; Raddatz<\/a> dropped this pretty significant <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CurtisHouck\/status\/1996369433569161520?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nugget of information<\/a> on Wednesday evening:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>And tonight, new information: According to a source familiar with the incident, the two survivors climbed back on to the boat after the initial strike. They were believed to be potentially in communication with others, and salvaging some of the drugs. Because of that, it was determined they were still in the fight and valid targets. A JAG officer was also giving legal advice.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>So, what Americans appear to have here is The Washington Post &mdash; which has peddled pretty much every major hoax under the sun in recent years (Russiagate, Kavanaugh rape smears, etc.) &mdash; running yet another baseless info op to tarnish one of its political opponents. Shocker!<\/p>\n<p>But what&rsquo;s particularly notable about the Post&rsquo;s participation in this latest hoax is that it&rsquo;s part of a now-longstanding pattern of targeted smear campaigns specifically aimed at taking out Hegseth. <\/p>\n<p>Not long after then-President-elect Trump tapped him to lead the Pentagon, Hegseth was bombarded with media-run <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/12\/04\/100-percent-bullsh-t-fox-news-talent-shoot-down-nbcs-smear-campaign-against-pete-hegseth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">anonymous allegations<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.compactmag.com\/article\/smearing-pete-hegseth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrongdoing<\/a> during his time at Fox News and running a veterans-focused organization. Many of these bad actors also willingly partook in <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/18\/media-lie-about-pete-hegseths-christian-faith-to-falsely-smear-him-as-racist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">smears<\/a> of his Christian faith and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/21\/nbcs-latest-hit-piece-against-pete-hegseth-is-even-dumber-than-you-think\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hit<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/23\/cnns-last-minute-hit-piece-against-pete-hegseth-is-a-giant-nothingburger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">jobs<\/a> about his personal life.<\/p>\n<p>While these efforts failed to prevent Hegseth from being confirmed as war secretary, that didn&rsquo;t stop the media and other Democrats from reusing this strategy to try and remove him from the position. On top of the &ldquo;war crimes&rdquo; hoax, these leftists have relentlessly pushed the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/27\/media-efforts-to-turn-signalgate-into-a-scandal-are-the-surest-sign-its-not-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Signalgate dud<\/a>, the manufactured &ldquo;constitutional crisis&rdquo; about a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/cnn-lets-its-anti-christian-bias-fly-with-hit-piece-on-pentagon-prayer-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pentagon-led prayer service<\/a>, and elevated the (oftentimes anonymous) voices of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/31\/insubordinate-officers-publicly-attack-the-secretary-of-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">disgruntled officers<\/a> upset that the failed status quo has been shown the door. <\/p>\n<p>The reason behind this seemingly coordinated smear campaign is the same as it was the first day Hegseth was tapped to lead the Pentagon. That is, unlike many of his predecessors, he&rsquo;s a change agent who actually cares about reforming the broken system that&rsquo;s responsible for overseeing the U.S. military&rsquo;s decades-long decay.<\/p>\n<p>After one year under Hegseth&rsquo;s leadership, the Pentagon has made efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/12\/hegseth-orders-return-to-merit-based-admissions-policies-at-military-academies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">gut<\/a> racist DEI and affirmative action policies from the military and its academies, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/31\/hegseth-signs-memo-ordering-return-to-sex-neutral-standards-in-the-military\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">restore<\/a> &ldquo;sex neutral&rdquo; standards to combat roles, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/11\/25\/exclusive-war-dept-battles-internal-resistance-to-reinstate-86-soldiers-ejected-by-covid-shot-mandate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reinstate<\/a> service members booted over President Biden&rsquo;s &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/04\/24\/hegseth-orders-additional-guidance-to-reenlist-troops-booted-over-bidens-unlawful-covid-shot-mandate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unlawful<\/a>&rdquo; Covid shot mandate, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/27\/no-one-is-being-banned-from-the-military-radical-transgender-accommodations-are\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ax<\/a> radical &ldquo;trans&rdquo; accommodations, <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/02\/22\/trump-ousts-leftist-joint-chiefs-of-staff-chair-other-dei-pushing-military-officials\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">remove<\/a> pro-DEI officers, and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/01\/it-turns-out-the-militarys-biden-era-recruitment-crisis-was-a-leadership-problem-after-all\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reverse<\/a> the military&rsquo;s Biden-era recruiting crisis, to name a few. Combine these with Hegseth&rsquo;s willingness to train with and hear from the rank-and-file troops and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/31\/insubordinate-officers-publicly-attack-the-secretary-of-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">call out<\/a> high-ranking officers&rsquo; incompetence, and it&rsquo;s no wonder the establishment have been working so hard to get rid of him. <\/p>\n<p>Like any public official, Hegseth is not beyond criticism or error. But the ongoing Democrat-media op to take him down is not based on that simple reality. It&rsquo;s based upon a desire to return the Pentagon to the status quo, in which the military-industrial complex prospers while the overall condition of America&rsquo;s armed forces and its personnel wither away into irrelevancy. <\/p>\n<p>Everything Hegseth is doing is aimed at reversing that decline, and it is for that reason alone why the D.C. establishment will do everything in its power to destroy him. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Media discredit selves with false Hegseth war crimes claim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2517507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Pete-Hegseth.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[45173,8857,5894,47679],"class_list":["post-2517506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-hegseth","tag-hoax","tag-politics","tag-war-crimes"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Pete-Hegseth.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2517506"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2517510,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517506\/revisions\/2517510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2517507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2517506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2517506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2517506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}