The military's own ranks have turned Hegseth's rebranding against him. Active-duty Marines now call his Pentagon the “Department of War Crimes” — combining his rebrand of the DOD as “Department of War” with accusations of illegal military actions. Rep. Seth Moulton, a Marine veteran, confirmed: “I know active-duty Marines who now refer to Pete Hegseth's department as the Department of War Crimes.”
Separately, Pentagon staffers call Hegseth “Dumb McNamara” behind his back, according to Zeteo, citing current and former U.S. officials. The comparison to Vietnam-era Defense Secretary Robert McNamara reflects that while McNamara was considered brilliant but catastrophically wrong, Hegseth is seen as having the same “overzealous bloodlust” without any intellectual credentials.
The nicknames are the hook. The substance is what earned them: 1,600+ civilian deaths in Iran including 244+ children. The Minab school bombing (156 killed per the local prosecutor, including 120 schoolchildren). An untested missile scattering tungsten pellets near a volleyball practice. “No-survivors” orders on Caribbean drug boat strikes. 224+ civilian deaths in Yemen airstrikes. And Hegseth's own words: “We negotiate with bombs.”
When the troops you lead view your leadership as criminal, the institution has broken.
Correction (September 17, 2026): an earlier version of this entry described the Minab school as a girls' school. A UN fact-finding mission describes it as a primary school for girls and boys aged 6 to 13 and cites a final local toll of 156, including 120 schoolchildren.