U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth — Pentagon Briefing, March 10, 2026
On March 10, the U.S. Defense Secretary called Iranians "barbarians" while briefing reporters on an air campaign that opened by striking a girls' elementary school, killing over 165 children. This site exists to ask a simple question: who, exactly, are the barbarians here?
Let's examine that word against the documented record of what the United States has done in Iran since February 28, 2026 — and let the facts determine who it describes.
On the morning of February 28, 2026 — the very first day of the war — a missile struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, a town in southern Iran. The school was in session. The students were between seven and twelve years old. Parents had been called to pick up their children as news of airstrikes spread. Many were still on their way.
The missile hit the school between 10:00 and 10:45 a.m. as classes were changing periods. According to witnesses, a second strike followed while survivors sheltered in a hallway. The building collapsed on the children inside.
Multiple independent investigations — by the New York Times, NPR, BBC Verify, CBC, and Al Jazeera's digital investigations unit — concluded the strike was likely carried out by a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile. The Pentagon's own preliminary internal assessment reached the same conclusion, according to a U.S. official who spoke to NPR. Munitions experts from Bellingcat and the Armament Research Services consultancy confirmed the weapon in verified strike footage as a Tomahawk — a missile operated exclusively by the United States in this conflict.
"No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars."
NPR reported that Hegseth had scaled back civilian casualty mitigation efforts at the Pentagon prior to the war, leaving U.S. Central Command with only one staffer assigned to civilian protection operations. Funding for civilian casualty prevention had been cut, forcing military commands to pay out of their own budgets.
When asked about the school, President Trump blamed Iran — without evidence — claiming Iranian munitions are "very inaccurate." Military analysts uniformly dismissed this claim. No Iranian missile matches the weapon identified in the footage, and only the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom possess Tomahawk missiles. Neither Australia nor Britain is party to the conflict.
Trump, March 1: "Based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran. They're very inaccurate with their munitions."
Hegseth, March 2: Evaded questions. Said the U.S. was "investigating" and would "never target civilian targets."
Trump, March 3: Claimed Iran "also has some Tomahawks" — a claim dismissed by every military expert consulted.
Al Jazeera investigation: Satellite imagery over a decade shows the school had been clearly separated from an adjacent military facility for at least 10 years. The strike pattern bypassed a clinic between the school and the base — suggesting the striking party had detailed maps distinguishing the facilities.
The war did not begin because diplomacy had been exhausted. It began while diplomacy was actively underway.
Iran and the U.S. held indirect nuclear negotiations in Muscat, Oman. Iran stated progress depended on further consultations.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi publicly stated that a "historic" agreement to avert military conflict was "within reach" ahead of renewed talks in Geneva.
Three days after Iran said a deal was within reach, the U.S. and Israel launched surprise airstrikes across Iran. No warning. No declaration of war.
The UN special rapporteur on counterterrorism, Ben Saul, stated plainly that the strikes are not lawful self-defense under international law and that the Security Council did not authorize them. Legal scholars have described the attack as potentially meeting the definition of the international crime of aggression.
"There really was no evidence of an imminent threat. This was a pre-emptive strike — acting to counter something hypothetical, speculative, and not imminent."
The opening strikes killed Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, along with his daughter, granddaughter, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law. Israeli jets dropped 30 bombs on his compound. The CIA had been tracking his location for months and timed the operation to coincide with a meeting of senior officials.
This was the first time the United States or Israel directly killed a sitting head of state. Legal scholars at the Verfassungsblog described it as representing "a new stage in the erosion of the international norm against assassination," noting that no credible legal basis was articulated for the strike.
The legality remains deeply contested. While some argue the laws of armed conflict permit targeting enemy leadership, others point out that the conflict itself may constitute a crime of aggression — and that starting an illegal war cannot retroactively legalize acts committed during it.
Russia: President Putin called it a "cynical murder" violating "all standards of human morality and international law."
China: "Strongly condemns" the killing.
India (opposition): The Indian National Congress "unequivocally condemns the targeted assassination" of a leader "carried out without a formal declaration of war."
Turkey: President Erdogan expressed being "saddened" by the death.
UN experts: The school strike was condemned as "a grave violation of humanitarian law."
While the documented record shows what the United States has done, the rhetoric from its leaders reveals how they think about it.
Called Iranians "barbarians" and "cowards."
Promised "death and destruction from the sky, all day long."
Declared Iran is "toast."
Said there would be "no stupid rules of engagement" and "no politically correct wars."
Celebrated that U.S. pilots have "maximum authorities" to kill, granted personally by the president.
Referred to Iran's injured new leader as "likely disfigured," mocking him as a "rat" who has "gone underground, cowering."
Berated journalists for reporting on civilian casualties, accusing them of trying to "make the president look bad."
Members of Congress have requested a DOD Inspector General investigation into reports that Hegseth and military commanders have invoked religious prophecy and apocalyptic theology to justify the war — telling troops they are fighting to fulfill biblical Armageddon.
The Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Dena was returning from a multinational naval exercise in India — Exercise MILAN — which required participating ships to carry no ammunition. The U.S. knew this, having sent its own maritime patrol aircraft to the same exercise.
The USS Charlotte, a U.S. submarine, torpedoed and sank the unarmed ship in the Indian Ocean, south of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Navy rescued 32 survivors.
It was the first ship sunk by a submarine in combat since the Falklands War in 1982 — and the first by a U.S. submarine since World War II.
As of March 13, 2026 — less than two weeks into the conflict:
According to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, these numbers represent two weeks of an air campaign that the U.S. Defense Secretary has described as "the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history."
Oil prices have surged from $67 to over $93 per barrel. The Strait of Hormuz — through which a significant share of the world's oil flows — has been functionally disrupted. Heritage sites including the third-century Sassanian Falak ol-Aflak Castle have been damaged. Banks in Tehran have been bombed.
| Action | United States | Iran |
|---|---|---|
| Initiated hostilities | Launched surprise strikes during active negotiations | Responded with retaliatory strikes after being attacked |
| School strike | U.S. Tomahawk missile struck a girls' school on Day 1, killing 165+ children | — |
| Civilian protection | Scaled back civilian casualty mitigation before the war; cut funding; 1 staffer left at CENTCOM | — |
| Assassination | Killed a sitting head of state and his family members, including a granddaughter | — |
| Attacked unarmed vessel | Sank an Iranian frigate known to be carrying no ammunition | — |
| Rhetoric | "Barbarians," "toast," "death and destruction from the sky, all day long," "rats," mocking injuries | — |
| International law | Multiple legal scholars describe the war as potentially constituting the crime of aggression | Exercised right of self-defense after being attacked |
Secretary Hegseth, when you call Iranians "barbarians" while your own missiles are buried in the rubble of a girls' school, the word you're looking for is projection.
This site was built by an American. A U.S. Army special operations veteran. Someone who has served this country and loves it — and who recognizes barbarism when it's committed in our name.
The facts on this page are sourced from NPR, the New York Times, Time, CBS News, the BBC, Al Jazeera, the United Nations, and the Pentagon's own statements. They are not opinions. They are the documented record of what we have done.
If you oppose this war, say so. Loudly.