Hegseth Gutted Offices That Would Have Probed Iran School Strike

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has gutted the Pentagon oversight offices that would have investigated the recent strike on an Iranian girls’ school — a move that has degraded America’s ability to protect civilians amid its largest air campaign in decades.

The Pentagon chief last year slashed offices that didn’t contribute to his goal of “lethality,” including the group that assists in limiting risk to civilians, known as the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence. Around 200 employees who worked on the issue, including at that office, have been reduced by about 90 percent, according to two current and former officials and a person familiar with the effort. The team that handles civilian casualties at Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, has dropped from 10 to one.

Hegseth can’t close the offices because they are approved by Congress. But he has managed to make them nearly inoperable, according to the people, as the Pentagon investigates its responsibility in what could be the worst U.S.-led killing of civilians since 2003. Iranian state media said the strike killed about 170 children and 14 teachers.

“The fact that our secretary of Defense, that our Central Command commander, cannot actually tell us whether or not they dropped a bomb in this location, that is so unbelievably unacceptable,” said Wes Bryant, the Pentagon’s former chief of civilian harm assessments until last year. “It just points even more to recklessness in this, in the entire planning and execution of this campaign, the fact that they don't have any idea.”

Hegseth has said no other country takes as many precautions to ensure the U.S. is not targeting civilians. But the Pentagon chief, who has long derided the use of laws in war, this week called military rules of engagement “stupid.”

“We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country,” he said at a Tuesday press conference on the U.S.-Israeli military operation. “No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.”

Some defense officials worry that lack of restraint is having a damaging effect on investigations of civilian casualties, starting with the Trump administration’s strikes against Houthi forces in Yemen in 2025.

“The real issue is the degree to which the administration cares,” said one defense official, who like some others interviewed, was granted anonymity out of fear of retribution. “Under an administration that cares about [civilian casualties], the center would be helpful. With or without the center, if they don't care the center doesn't matter.”

Pentagon spokesperson Riley Podleski, when asked about the downsized offices, pointed to Hegseth’s comments about the U.S. taking precautions to protect civilians.

The U.S. and Israel have hit more than 5,000 targets in Iran during the 11 day conflict. Hegseth said that Tuesday would be the “most intense day of strikes.”

That heavy pace was underscored by an analysis from Airwars, a UK-based watchdog group that monitors air strikes across the globe. It reported that the first 100 hours of the military campaign against Iran hit more targets than in the first six months of the U.S.-led coalition’s bombing campaign against the Islamic State.

The elementary school strike also occurred in those first hours. Iran said a U.S. missile destroyed the school, which sat next to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base. Open source video appears to show a Tomahawk missile streaking toward the school. Only two countries other than the U.S. are known to have Tomahawk missiles: Australia and Britain, and neither is taking part in the military campaign. Hegseth said the Pentagon is investigating the strikes but did not indicate which office is doing so.

“The Defense Department has defunded critically important civilian protection functions at a time when they are desperately needed,” said Annie Shiel, of the Center for Civilians in Conflict, a human rights advocacy group.

It’s not just staff that are reduced, it’s also a "reduction in prioritization,” she said. “The policies are still in place. But they don’t have the resources or top-cover to implement them to their fullest extent, and that is very concerning. Ultimately, it’s civilians who pay the price.”

Hegseth’s relationship to the law of war has been a strained one.

He first came to President Donald Trump’s attention in 2018 as a Fox & Friend co-host, where he launched a series of segments calling for the acquittals or pardons of four U.S. troops accused of war crimes. His comments caught the attention of Trump during his first term and led to the release of the Navy SEAL and three soldiers. Two of the men, including SEAL Eddie Gallagher, had been turned in by their own men.

Trump and his Cabinet members have left the campaign’s endgame open-ended. Trump on Monday said the war was "very complete, pretty much.”

Hegseth, the following day, added a layer of ambiguity. It will happen “on our timeline,” he said. It will happen “at our choosing.”