Hegseth's (Un)Holy War.

April 10, 2026

Our troops, our American warriors, deserve the credit for this day, but God deserves all the glory. Tens of thousands of sorties, refuelings, and strikes carried out under the protection of divine providence; a massive effort with miraculous protection.

• Pete Hegseth, April 8, 2026, declaring victory in Iran.

The US military accidentally struck an Iranian elementary school, in an attack that state media said killed at least 168 children and 14 teachers, likely due to outdated information about a nearby naval base, according to two sources briefed on the preliminary findings of an ongoing military investigation.

• CNN, March 11, 2026

We’re certainly investigating. But the only side that targets civilians is Iran.

• Pete Hegseth, March 9, 2026, commenting on Trump’s claim that Iran targeted the girls’ school.

America, regardless of what so-called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history. . . . No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy building exercise, no politically correct wars.

• Pete Hegseth, March 2, 2026, at Pentagon news conference, refusing to comment on the number of civilian deaths in the US war on Iran.

At least 2,076 people have been killed by US-Israeli attacks on Iran since February 28 . . . 240 women and 212 children are among those killed. Over 26,500 people have been injured, including at least 4,000 women and 1,621 children.

• Al Jazeera, Real Time Tracker for deaths and injuries in US war on Iran.

Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation. Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.

• Pete Hegseth, Mar 25, 2026, reading a chaplain’s prayer at a Christian service at the Pentagon.

Pete Hegseth claims divine guidance and protection for America’s war on Iran, giving “glory to God” for every video game explosion that snuffs out a human life created in the image and likeness of God.

His embrace of Christian nationalism from the Pentagon pulpit violates the Constitution and desecrates the very Christianity he seeks to force onto the members of the US military, all Americans, and the grieving Iranian families who have lost innocents to precision-guided missiles that cannot discriminate between combatants and school girls.

Despite millennia of prayers for victory by soldiers heading to battle, God does not take sides in war.

Pete Hegseth’s perversion of Christianity has led to direct conflict between the Pentagon and Vatican representatives of Pope Leo XIV. See Newsweek, The Pentagon Threatened Pope Leo XIV’s Ambassador With the Avignon Papacy.

Per Newsweek, a Pentagon representative told a Vatican envoy that the Church had better align itself with the US, alluding to the Avignon Papacy. For those unfamiliar with the Avignon Papacy, it refers to a 68-year period (1309–1377) during which the Catholic papacy was relocated from Rome to southern France and dominated by the French crown.¹ In context, the allusion was a threat to the independence of the Catholic Church (my gloss, not stated in the Newsweek article).

Pope Leo has been directly critical of statements by Trump and Hegseth. In response to Trump’s threat to “destroy” a “whole civilization,” Pope Leo said,

There are certainly issues here of international law, but even more than that, it is a moral question for the good of the people. I would like to invite everyone to truly think in their hearts about the many innocent people, so many children, so many elderly, completely innocent, who would also become victims of this escalation.

I invite everyone to pray, but also to say to their political leaders, to the authorities, we do not want war, let us work for peace. We are a people who love peace.

America Magazine, Pope Leo: Trump’s threat to destroy Iran ‘truly unacceptable’.

Religious leaders of every denomination should condemn Hegseth’s invocation of divine providence in an unholy war that is flouting the so-called “stupid rules of engagement” that exist to protect civilians.

There are many grounds for impeaching and removing Trump and Hegseth. Among those reasons should be their blatant attempt to “establish” Christianity as the religion of the US military and their deliberate refusal to abide by the laws of war, the Geneva Convention, and the UN Charter.

Opportunities for Reader Engagement

Join me as I host Dan Osborn at my home and meet the independent candidate for US Senate from Nebraska.

Can Dan Osborn, the union industrial mechanic fighting for working-class voters beat MAGA Senator Pete Ricketts, the child of billionaires? Last cycle, readers of this newsletter gave Nebraska Independent Senate Candidate Dan Osborn his best fundraiser in the final month of his race.

This Monday I am hosting Osborn at my home for an update on the contest (polls show it’s tied) and help get him from 46.5% to winning! For background, Dan is the former president of his union, a Navy veteran, and a Nebraska National Guardsman. He’s pro-choice, pro-worker, and key to a Senate that fights for our shared values. Watch his launch video here.

When: Monday, April 13, at 8:00 pm Eastern/ 5:00 pm Pacific on Zoom. Moderated by Robert Hubbell.
Register for the Zoom here.

No donation required, but of course welcome: Donate here.

Hosted by Downtown Nasty Women,Markers For Democracy, Team Min, 31st Street Swing Left, and Senate Circle.

In-person meeting with Oath co-founder in Manhattan, NYC, on April 13, at 6:30 p.m.

You are invited to an in-person meeting with Brian Derrick, co-founder of the Democratic online fundraising platform Oath, about the impact of strategic, data-driven giving. Oath analyzes every general election race in the country and gives it an impact score that lets you know where your money is needed most. You can also get recommendations for where your money will go the farthest based on your personal priorities, like Flip the US House or Fight Back Against Ice.

No donation is required to attend this event in downtown Manhattan on April 13th at 6:30 pm.

RSVP here! Use Oath to give smart so we can WIN BIG in November!

Concluding Thoughts

I am sending an abbreviated. newsletter this evening because Jill and I attended the Bruce Springsteen concert in Los Angeles on Thursday evening. It was a late night, and we are boarding a flight in a few hours to visit our daughter, granddaughters, and son-in-law in Tennessee for the weekend (and I still haven’t packed!).

Bruce Springsteen is a proud member of the resistance and outspoken defender of democracy. I will write more tomorrow, but for tonight, let me say that he began the concert with a prayer for the safe return of our troops, then sang War (“What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!), and followed with “Born in the USA.”

A few songs into his set, he sang “The Streets of Minneapolis,” a touching and powerful ballad about the bravery and example of the people of Minneapolis.

Bruce also delivered two “spoken word” sets that directly addressed the lawlessness of the Trump administration. He closed the concert with a plea for unity and a call for activism.

If only only every major star would use their celebrity to speak out against Trump and urge Americans to defend the rule of law we would be further along in out effort to reclaim our democracy. There is a reason they call Bruce Springsteen “the Boss.”

I will be traveling much of Friday and joining our granddaughters, daughter, and son-in-law for dinner on Friday evening, so I will send a short(ish) newsletter for Saturday morning, and I will not hold my regular Saturday livestream.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Pro-Democracy Protest Photos

[Send to rbhubbell@gmail.com.]

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Today the I-90 Berkshire Visibility Brigade (West Stockbridge, MA) showed our support for the people of Ukrain

Chesapeake Indivisible visibility brigade.

billboard in Taos, New Mexico

1. Lexington, KY, Peaceful Bluegrass Resistance protesting down the road from Keenland racetrack trying to catch the eye of some happy racegoers. Got lots of honks!

Like everything involving religion and politics, the Avignon Papacy was immensely more complicated that I have described above. Indeed, as I fact checked this newsletter, I learned that the view of the Avignon Papacy among modern scholars is changing significantly.