Pete Hegseth’s ‘American Crusade’ is no longer just a book

By Lawrence Pintak | FāVS News Columnist

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. 

Samuel Huntington may be dead, but his “Clash of Civilians” appears to be immortal.

As Jonathan Larsen first reported over on his Substack, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), a group that lobbies for the separation of church and state in the U.S. Armed Forces, has been receiving complaints from active duty service members who say that some commanders are telling them the war against Iran is “all part of God’s divine plan” to bring on the Armageddon and the return of Christ.

Should we really be surprised?

Anointed by Jesus’: what troops are being told

Hours after unleashing the dogs of war, Donald Trump — whom some commanders have told their troops was “anointed by Jesus” — casually dismissed the deaths of the first three U.S. troops by saying, “That’s the way it is; likely be more.”

But American martyrs to Trump’s “righteous mission” can rest easy: “America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization.”

And there it was: We are fighting to defend “civilization.”

“Civilization” in this worldview equates to Christianity. After all, as Trump famously declared back in 2016, “Islam hates us.”

In case anyone missed it, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt thoughtfully elaborated in a social media post: America is at war against “bloodthirsty terrorists seeking to destroy the United States and all of Western Civilization.”

It didn’t take long for the other shoe to drop: “That entire regime is led by radical clerics who don’t make geopolitical decisions; they make decisions on the basis of theology — their view of theology, which is an apocalyptic one,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said of the Iranian leadership.

He had a point. Back when I was covering the Iran-Iraq War, as the mullahs prepared conscripted young boys and old men for suicidal human wave assaults against Iraqi lines, they issued them with a “key to Paradise,” which was actually nothing more than a dog tag, telling them there was no need to be afraid of dying. Allah was on their side.

Americans would never do anything like that.

Oh wait, if the soldiers filing complaints with the MRFF are to be believed, certain commanders are telling troops in the Middle East “not to be afraid” because the war is “all part of God’s divine plan” and “President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.”

They didn’t mention a one-way ticket to Paradise, but you get the idea.

Worth knowing: Biblical prophecies say the apocalypse will be sparked by a war between Israel and Iran. Some Christian evangelicals think that’s a good thing.

This president has not — yet — used the magic term “crusade,” invoked by George W. Bush, but you need look no further than the crusader tattoos decorating the body of Trump’s so-called “secretary of war,” Pete Hegseth, to guess the mindset of key administration figures driving this war of choice — which is, of course, a campaign against “evil” in the name of all humanity.

Pete Hegseth’s crusade is no longer metaphorical

“Our present moment is much like the 11th century. We don’t want to fight, but, like our fellow Christians one thousand years ago, we must,” Hegseth wrote in his 2020 book, “American Crusade.” 

He continued: “Arm yourself — metaphorically, intellectually, physically. Our fight is not with guns. Yet.”

Only now it is. And Hegseth’s sword is the most powerful military on Earth.

“We’re undertaking this massive operation not merely to ensure security for our own time and place, but for our children and their children, just as our ancestors have done for us many, many years ago. This is the duty and the burden of a free people,” Trump said in a Truth Social post, telling a reporter later, “In the end it’s going to be a great deal for the world.”

Well, that’s OK then.

And this time, Hegseth told a Pentagon news conference, there would be no “stupid rules of engagement.”

You know, those instructions given to service members heading into battle to ensure they do not violate the international legal conventions, which require, as the Pentagon’s Law of War manual states, “that ‘constant care’ be taken to spare civilians and civilian objects during military operations.”

No shooting unarmed combatants. No torturing prisoners. No dropping bombs on schools. That kind of thing. Stupid.

“The law of war is part of who we are,” the Pentagon manual states on its first page. It quotes the late Justice Robert Jackson, who prosecuted Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg trials, as saying the rules are designed to “stay the hand of vengeance.”

But in this war, vowed Hegseth, addressing himself to his “warriors” in the theater of battle, “No apologies, no hesitation” just “epic fury.”

A crusade without those stupid Christian values.

Sounds an awful lot like religiously-inspired vengeance. What do they call that? Hang on, it’s on the tip of my tongue. Oh, I know.

Jihad.

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