Snapshot · The Bulwark Podcast
Pete Hegseth got his job as Defense Secretary partly through his Fox News advocacy to shield service members accused of atrocities against civilians in Iraq from accountability.
Where this was said
At 35:00 · chapter starts 34:20
Tim Miller references a major AP investigation reconstructing the U.S. missile strike on a girls' school in Manab, Iran [1] — Susan Glasser "Pete Hegseth's role in protecting service members accused of atrocities: Pete Hegseth got his job as Defense Secretary partly through his F…" 35:00 . A former Pentagon official told the AP that the strike resulted from Trump administration decisions to reduce staff dedicated to civilian harm mitigation and to stop work on no-strike lists. The Pentagon has still not released its own findings; Trump last week suggested the question of whose fault it was may never be answered. Susan Glasser provides the historical context: Pete Hegseth got his Defense Secretary job precisely through his on-air advocacy defending service members accused of atrocities against Iraqi civilians from accountability — and Trump overruled his own military chain of command to accommodate Hegseth's positions. That biography, she argues, is not incidental to the current situation.
Pete Hegseth secured the Defense Secretary job through his on-air advocacy to prevent service members accused of civilian atrocities in Iraq from being held accountable. Trump overruled his own military chain of command to accommodate Hegseth's position. This history, Susan Glasser argues, explains his approach to the school bombing in Iran.
The Trump-Iran memorandum of understanding has been called a landmark ceasefire, but firing between the two sides has continued. Iran treats the Strait of Hormuz as a spigot to turn on and off for leverage, and no meaningful nuclear talks have begun. Susan Glasser is skeptical any long-term peace deal emerges.
The Iran-U.S. ceasefire was labeled a 'landmark memorandum of understanding' but has not proven effective, with ongoing firing between the two sides and no meaningful progress in follow-on nuclear talks.
A total of 8 states have filed lawsuits against social media platforms, including an ongoing case in Tennessee, using product liability and public nuisance theories to seek accountability.
France built 56 nuclear plants in the 1970s and now has the cheapest energy in Europe, making it independent of Russian or Middle Eastern energy geopolitics.
Estonia has a single tax form, a law preventing the government from asking citizens for the same information twice, and a flat rate of tax — enabling competitive taxation.
Portugal's Lisbon, once a city with a major heroin problem, legalised drugs and redirected enforcement spending into rehabilitation and housing, dramatically reducing crime.
The first Boland Amendment banning CIA and Defense Department funds for the Contras passed the House unanimously — yet the Reagan administration ignored it.
Over just two years, Saudi Arabia alone donated $32 million to the Contra rebels, giving loosely affiliated factions millions they had no way to spend on arms.
The National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty raised $6.3 million for the Contras but only $3.3 million reached them — a shockingly low 52% program expense rate.
Richard Secord and Albert Hakim marked up their arms shipments to the Contras by as much as 300%, making enormous personal profits from the covert operation.
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, tapped to run the entire covert Contra support operation, had no prior experience in covert operations whatsoever — he was learning as he went.
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