{"id":2587676,"date":"2026-04-06T14:22:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iranian-rescue-mission-underscores-hegseths-predecessors-incompetence\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T14:23:37","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:23:37","slug":"iranian-rescue-mission-underscores-hegseths-predecessors-incompetence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/iranian-rescue-mission-underscores-hegseths-predecessors-incompetence\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran Rescue Mission Underscores Hegseth&#8217;s Predecessors&#8217; Incompetence"},"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\">14<\/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%2Firanian-rescue-mission-underscores-hegseths-predecessors-incompetence%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=2587676&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>An opinion piece from The Federalist recounts a dramatic Saturday rescue of an American airman who was behind enemy lines in Iran. It credits the CIA with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/we-dont-need-the-durham-annex-to-know-hillary-set-up-trump\/\" title=\"We Don&#039;t Need The Durham Annex To Know Hillary Set Up Trump\">feeding false information<\/a> to confuse the enemy and describes MQ-9 Reaper drones establishing a secure perimeter, enabling the rescue by U.S. forces. The author quotes a Truth Social post from President Trump and argues the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >operation demonstrated clear military competence<\/a>, contrasting it with what she views as decades of failed leadership and mismanaged responses by senior officers in past crises.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-the-judges-in-rfks-censorship-case-were-really-liberal-theyd-defend-free-speech\/\" title=\"If the judges in RFK&#039;s censorship case were truly liberal, they would support free speech\">article draws parallels<\/a> to the 2012 Benghazi attack, citing investigations that found a slow and inadequate military response and noting that no top officers were relieved of command. It also references the Afghanistan withdrawal under President Biden, highlighting casualties at Abbey Gate and the perception that Milley and McKenzie were not held accountable.the piece critiques lawmakers like Sen. Tim Kaine for focusing on process rather than results, and it attributes the successful rescue to decisive leadership, including Pete Hegseth and others, framing decades of failures as a matter of choice rather than circumstance.Brianna Lyman, the author, frames the story as part of a broader debate over military competence and accountability, linking it to related tags such as Benghazi, Iran, Milley, McKenzie, Hegseth, and rescue missions.  <\/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 class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/gageskidmore\/52251960413\">  Gage Skidmore\/Flicker<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/\">CC BY-SA 2.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/04\/06\/iranian-rescue-mission-underscores-hegseths-predecessors-incompetence\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Iranian%20Rescue%20Mission%20Underscores%20Hegseth%E2%80%99s%20Predecessors%E2%80%99%20Incompetence&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/04\/06\/iranian-rescue-mission-underscores-hegseths-predecessors-incompetence\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Iranian%20Rescue%20Mission%20Underscores%20Hegseth%E2%80%99s%20Predecessors%E2%80%99%20Incompetence&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/04\/06\/iranian-rescue-mission-underscores-hegseths-predecessors-incompetence\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/04\/06\/iranian-rescue-mission-underscores-hegseths-predecessors-incompetence\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Iranian%20Rescue%20Mission%20Underscores%20Hegseth%E2%80%99s%20Predecessors%E2%80%99%20Incompetence&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/04\/06\/iranian-rescue-mission-underscores-hegseths-predecessors-incompetence\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>An American airman found himself stuck behind enemy lines on Saturday in the &ldquo;treacherous mountains of Iran,&rdquo; after his aircraft was shot down and Iranian forces were closing in, according to the president. But in a daring rescue mission, the CIA managed to pick up his distress signal and fed false information through multiple channels to confuse the enemy, Fox News&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/inside-daring-rescue-airmen-behind-enemy-lines-cia-assisted-deception-campaign\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>. In the meantime, MQ9 Reaper drones established a secure perimeter and U.S. forces were able to rescue him.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In a Truth Social post, President Donald Trump said the airman &ldquo;was never truly alone because his Commander in Chief, Secretary of War, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and fellow Warfighters were monitoring his location 24 hours a day, and diligently planning for his rescue.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1162045634\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Americans can and will continue to debate the war in Iran. But what is not debatable is the competence on display of our military and its leaders during Saturday&rsquo;s rescue mission. This rescue mission stands as a stark indictment of the generation of top brass who preceded it &mdash; the same admirals and generals who spent decades losing wars and abandoning Americans in times of need &mdash; all the while retaining their Washington, D.C. accolades.<\/p>\n<p>On September 11, 2012, Islamist militants attacked the US embassy in Benghazi. The attack lasted hours, during which Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty were killed. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2016\/06\/28\/new-benghazi-report-faults-the-military-calls-response-too-slow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Investigations<\/a> from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/app\/details\/CRPT-114hrpt848\/CRPT-114hrpt848\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">House Select Committee on Benghazi<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2016\/06\/28\/483831166\/benghazi-committee-faults-military-response-to-2012-attack-in-libya\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">found<\/a> that the U.S. military response was slow and inadequate. Available special operations and air forces were not deployed with anything remotely suggesting urgency, and there was poor coordination between the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence community.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Despite the deadly eight-hour attack that claimed four American lives and the House&rsquo;s investigative report documenting a slow and unprepared military, none of the Pentagon&rsquo;s highest ranked officers were relieved of command as punishment.<\/p>\n<p>Less than a decade later, when President Joe Biden attempted to withdraw from Afghanistan, the Taliban killed 13 U.S. service members at Abbey Gate during a suicide bombing. Then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley and CENTCOM commander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie presided over the disastrous operation. Both Milley and McKenzie retired with their reputations largely intact.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>These failures have become expected and institutionalized. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Sen. Tim Kaine&rsquo;s reaction to the mission as it was ongoing on Saturday. In a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/timkaine\/status\/2040574934733271222?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">post<\/a>&nbsp;on X, Kaine wrote: &ldquo;We are trying to rescue a downed American in Iran. Hegseth&rsquo;s boasts about &lsquo;no quarter,&rsquo; &lsquo;no mercy,&rsquo; and axing &lsquo;stupid rules of engagement&rsquo; mean we have to hope that Iran follows the humanitarian laws that US leaders now dismiss.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>After decades of failed operations that cost American lives, time, and money, D.C. is still concerned with process over results even when it comes to rescuing a stranded American.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The successful rescue mission of America&rsquo;s finest did not occur simply because the military rediscovered competence. It occurred because of decisive action by Hegseth and other leaders, proving failure has been a choice for decades.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/benghazi\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Benghazi<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/iran\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Iran<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/kenneth-mckenzie\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Kenneth McKenzie<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mark-milley\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Mark Milley<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Pete Hegseth<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/rescue-mission\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">rescue mission<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Airman stranded in Iran; CIA rescue praised widely<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2587677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/52251960413_a8f386c95d_k-e1775492359610.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[75850,45173,55579,3823,77272],"class_list":["post-2587676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-foreign_policy","tag-hegseth","tag-incompetence-2","tag-iran","tag-rescue_mission"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/52251960413_a8f386c95d_k-e1775492359610.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587676","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\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2587676"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2587680,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2587676\/revisions\/2587680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2587677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2587676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2587676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2587676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}