Pete Hegseth slammed over latest Iran strikes comments: ‘We didn’t start this war’ | indy100

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Pete Hegseth has been criticised online after his latest comments on the Iran military strikes, claiming that “we didn’t start this war”.

The United States Secretary of War and former Fox News host spoke on Monday (February 2), and launched into a defense of Operation Epic Fury.

Hegseth claimed: "We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it."

Hegseth said Iran was building "powerful missiles and drones to create a conventional shield for their nuclear blackmail ambitions," with "our bases, our people, our allies all in their crosshairs."

He said Iran "tried to lie their way to a nuclear bomb."

Hegseth went on to say: "We set the terms of this war from start to finish. Our ambitions are not utopian. They are realistic, scoped to our interests and the defense of our people and our allies.”

“No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives,” Hegseth added. “This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it.”

Hegseth’s comments on ‘not starting the war’ came in for criticism on social media.

In a post that has racked up more than 97,000 likes, one user wrote: “'We didn’t start this war. But under president Trump, we’ll finish it”'

"Ummm, no Pete. You did start this war. Trump gave an 8 minute speech to explain his “preemptive strike”. Preemptive meaning, before the other country strikes.

"Don’t play the victim now. Take ya lumps."

Another criticised Hegseth for "trolling" during the speech.

The Canada Hates Trump account wrote: "Fact check: FALSE."

Commentator Brian Krassenstein wrote: "FACT CHECK: We started this war two days ago. Pete Hegseth is a liar, a fraud and a fool."

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