Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth promised Friday during a Pentagon news conference on the ongoing war with Iran that the United States would offer “no quarter” to its enemies, which Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) noted, in a rather prescient response, would be “an illegal order.”

“‘No quarter’ is not a tough-guy phrase; it means something,” Kelly wrote Friday on

He continued: “It would also put American service members at greater risk.”

Hegseth said in his Friday briefing that “we will keep pushing. We will keep pushing, we will keep moving forward, no quarter, no mercy for our enemies.”

Whether the former News host knows it or not, giving the enemy “quarter” means killing combatants even if they surrender. This is prohibited by most international humanitarian law frameworks, the Hague and Geneva Conventions.

“It is prohibited to order that there be no survivors,” the Geneva Conventions state, and the Fourth Hague Convention notes that it is illegal to “declare that no quarter shall be given.”

Kelly wrote on Friday: “Pete Hegseth should know not to use terms like this.”

This is not the first time Kelly has appeared in the speech about illegal orders. He and five fellow veteran Democratic lawmakers reminded U.S. service members in a video last year that they can legally challenge illegal orders. As a result, Hegseth attempted to lower Kelly’s Navy retiree rank and pension for his “seditious statements.” The video also drew the ire of President Donald Trump, who said it constituted “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH.” on social networks.

Hegseth, seen here gesturing with his pen during a press conference earlier this month.
Hegseth, seen here gesturing with his pen during a press conference earlier this month.

Mark Schiefelbein/News

The number of federal personnel assigned The task of minimizing harm to civilians in war has been markedly scaled back across the Defense Department since Trump returned to office, and Hegseth himself has indicated indifference. to the legally codified rules of engagement.

“There are no stupid rules of engagement, there are no nation-building quagmires, there are no democracy-building exercises, there are no politically correct wars,” he said during a news conference earlier this month. “We fight to win and we don’t waste time or lives.”

The Iran war has already cost the lives of at least 13 U.S. service members and more than 1,400 Iranians, including dozens of schoolchildren who were killed in an apparent U.S. airstrike on the first day of the war.