For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal [fleshly]. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood.
The Apostle Paul
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sees himself as a crusader. He calls himself a Christian. He believes his faith instructs him to “kill the infidels.” And as did the crusaders in the Middle Ages, Hegseth views the “infidels” primarily as the Muslim people. But Hegseth’s “Christian” crusade goes well beyond that. If he were able to annihilate every Muslim on earth, he would then set his sights on anyone who does not share his heretical Christian Nationalist ideology.
With a “divine” mission to “kill, kill, kill” (Hegseth’s words), there is no need and no room for rules of engagement. In fact, Hegseth calls the rules of engagement “stupid.” There is no need and no room for Just War. There is no need and no room for international law. There is no need and no room for constitutional law. As Hegseth sees it, his wars are “anointed” by God.
Back in 2001 and 2003, GW Bush and the neocons in his administration justified the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by accusing the Muslims in those regions of being “religious fanatics.” And in truth, the fanatics within Islam are almost exclusively subgroups within Sunni Islam—including the members of ISIS, ISIL, al-Nusra, al-Qaeda, etc. You know, the Muslim fanatics that are supported by Donald Trump and the U.S. government, the ones that Trump helped to put in power in Syria. But they are rarely found (at least in large numbers) within Shia Islam.
Today, however, the “religious fanatics” are located in Washington, D.C., and in Christian Zionist evangelical churches, personified in Pete Hegseth.