the US military has never had any real qualms about murdering innocent civilians; they've just had a problem admitting it out loud to the public.

You'll recall the multiple wedding parties that were massacred by drones during the Obama administration, or the Winter Soldier testimonies from Iraq and Afghanistan ca 2008 or the original Winter Soldier investigation in 1971 or the infamous My Lai massacre ca 1968.

Hegseth is skipping the normal ritual of denial and fake regret but this event is firmly within a well-documented lineage going back decades.