US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth held a “worship service” at the Pentagon on Wednesday, where he prayed for God to inflict violence on “those who deserve no mercy” and for “wicked souls” to be delivered to “eternal damnation,” as the US war chief continues to portray the US-Israeli war against Iran as one sanctioned by God.
Heseth said that the prayer he recited was said by a US military chaplain to troops ahead of the January 3 attack on Venezuela to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
“Snap the rod of the oppressor, frustrate the wicked plans, and break the teeth of the ungodly. By the blast of your anger, let the evil perish. Let their bulls go down to slaughter, for their day has come, the time of their punishment. Pour out your wrath upon those who plot vain things, and blow them away like chaff before the wind. Grant this task force clear and righteous targets for violence,” Hegseth said.
He continued, “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. Preserve their lives, sharpen their resolve, and let justice be executed swiftly and without remorse, that evil may be driven back, and wicked souls delivered to the eternal damnation prepared for them.”
Hegseth, a Christian Zionist and author of a book titled “American Crusade,” has frequently invoked God during his briefings on the Iran war, drawing criticism from Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the most senior Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land.
“The abuse and manipulation of God’s name to justify this and any other war is the gravest sin we can commit at this time,” Pizzaballa said last week when asked about Hegseth’s behavior. “War is first and foremost political and has very material interests, like most wars. We must do everything we can to leave no room for this pseudo-religious language, which speaks not of God, but of ourselves.”
Pizzaballa added that if “God is present in this war, He is among those who are dying, who are suffering, who are in pain, who are oppressed in various ways, throughout the Middle East.”
