What Hegseth's tattoos tell us about the war in Iran

TL;DR

Pete Hegseth's Crusader tattoos and rhetoric reveal a religious framework for the Iran war that experts warn dangerously removes restraints on violence.

Key Points

• 1.Hegseth's tattoos directly reference Crusader ideology. He has a Jerusalem Cross on his chest and 'Deus Vult' (God wills it — First Crusade rallying cry, c.1100) on his bicep, symbols analysts say carried anti-Islamic, neo-crusader connotations in the post-9/11 US military.
• 2.His book 'American Crusade' frames Islam as an eternal aggressor. Hegseth argues 11th-century Christians waged a defensive war against Islam's expansion — a claim medieval historians call '100% not true' and an extreme oversimplification.
• 3.Trump called the Iran war 'Pete's War.' Unlike nearly all other senior cabinet members who expressed reservations, Hegseth was consistently enthusiastic about the conflict, which has killed thousands since February 28th and pushed gas prices to war-era highs.
• 4.Hegseth's Pentagon prayer cast Iran as enemies deserving 'eternal damnation.' In a March address to Pentagon officials, he framed the war in explicitly religious terms, consistent with his broader pattern of invoking divine providence for US military missions.
• 5.A crusade framing carries dangerous diplomatic and military consequences. Experts warn it feeds al-Qaeda and ISIS narratives, plays into Iran's preferred portrayal of the conflict, and creates a zero-sum mindset that removes ethical restraints — potentially linked to a strike that killed nearly 200 schoolchildren on the war's first day.