US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, said American efforts to remake societies in Afghanistan and Iraq in the image of the United States cost thousands of lives, adding that the Trump administration is committed to avoiding similar military interventions.
Speaking before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Hegseth reflected on the legacy of the two wars, saying both Republican and Democratic administrations had pursued nation-building at a heavy human cost.
“Members of our generation in Iraq and Afghanistan watched administrations on both sides try to remake a society in the image of America,” Hegseth said. “Tens of thousands between Iraq and Afghanistan — men and women — lost their lives.”
He said President Donald Trump had made clear that the United States would not again fight what he described as “stupid wars” like those in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“That’s why we haven’t been trying to remake Iranian society,” Hegseth said, adding that the administration’s objective was to ensure Iran “never has a path to a nuclear bomb.”
Separately, Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social, that about 2,000 Americans were killed during the United States’ 20-year war in Afghanistan. He contrasted that figure with the deaths of 18 US service members during four months of military operations involving Iran.
Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence said the United States never fully committed to achieving victory in either Afghanistan or Iraq.
“One of the enduring lessons, I lived through those years when we first met, the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq. It seemed that there always a willingness to fight, but fight to a point,” he told the CNN.
The United States ended its longest war with the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, bringing to a close two decades of military involvement. The withdrawal culminated in the Taliban’s return to power after the collapse of the former Afghan government.
