Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has sparked online ridicule after boldly claiming that the U.S. attack against Iran was the most complex and secretive military operation in history.
The bizarre comment was made during a press conference in which the former Fox & Friends host lashed out angrily at the media for reporting on a leaked intelligence report suggesting the strikes may not have “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Known as Operation Midnight Hammer, the strikes directed by Donald Trump on Saturday were carried out using deception, decoys, and bunker bombs to target Iran’s key nuclear facilities.
But while the mission was militarily impressive, experts fear that the administration’s decision to telegraph possible US involvement for days allowed Iran to stockpile some of its nuclear enrichment material before the attack took place.
Despite these concerns, Hegseth doubled down on Trump’s claim that Iran’s nuclear program had been “obliterated”, telling reporters: “President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history, and it was a resounding success, resulting in a cease fire agreement and the end of the 12 day war.”
The comment about the attack’s place in history sparked online ridicule from some, while others pointed out that other U.S. operations were arguably more secretive and complex.
“It is difficult to square that against other missions, such as the surprise D-Day landing in France in 1944 which involved hundreds of thousands of soldiers and led to the eventual defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, or a more recent example, such as the SEAL Team 6 mission that killed Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011,” former navy and Iraq veteran John Ismay, a reporter for the New York Times.
— John Ismay (@johnismay) June 26, 2025
“According to Hegseth, Trump dropping bombs from 30,000 feet is somehow more complex than coordinating the largest amphibious invasion in world history,” wrote a social media user on X, in reference to the D-Day operation. “These people aren’t just rewriting history, they’re burning the textbooks.”
“Pete needs to back off the kool-aid,” quipped another.
Taking out Bid Laden was a highly classified mission involving black ops planning, intelligence tracking, and a daring night-time raid.
The D-Day operation was even more elaborate, as it involved multi-level cooperation between U.S, Canadian, British, and French troops as well as more than 150,000 soldiers landing on five beaches, more than 11,000 aircraft, and more than 7000 ships.
It also included a top-secret plan to mislead Adolf Hitler about when an invasion would take place.
At the press conference on Thursday, Hegseth and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave the most detailed briefing yet of the planning and execution of the U.S. airstrikes.
However, they offered no new assessments of the state of Iran’s nuclear program or the full extent of the battle damage to the three targets: Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Instead, Hegseth referred to the comments of the nation’s spy agencies and others who backed the president’s view about the success of the strikes.
Among them was a statement from CIA director John Ratcliffe, who wrote: “CIA can confirm that a body of credible intelligence indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program has been severely damaged by the recent, targeted strikes.
“This includes new intelligence from a historically reliable and accurate source/method that several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years. CIA continues to collect additional reliably sourced information to keep appropriate decision-makers and oversight bodies fully informed.”
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