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One of the hardest stories to convey to the public is how much more lethal and effective the military has become under Hegseth.

To most Americans, Iran looks like a quagmire, no different from Iraq or Afghanistan.

The truth is that these people have spent half a century… https://t.co/Cqjg5KKrTj

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) June 25, 2026

One of the hardest stories to convey to the public is how much more lethal and effective the military has become under Hegseth.

To most Americans, Iran looks like a quagmire, no different from Iraq or Afghanistan.

The truth is that these people have spent half a century planning to kill Americans in war.

And what have they accomplished?

Fifteen brave service members have died. That is a tragedy.

But strip away the emotion and it’s 377 fewer Americans than died in the Gulf War, which every journalist hailed as a resounding success.

It’s less than the number who died in minor skirmishes like the invasion of Panama or Grenada.

It’s one fewer than the number of Americans killed in the Afghanistan withdrawal and the Gaza Pier operation combined.

One death is more than most Americans want to pay for another war in the Middle East so nobody is jumping for joy like they did during the Gulf War

But the effectiveness and lethality of the military RIGHT NOW, after Hegseth’s so called “purge” of Admirals and Generals is remarkable by any metric.