Tom Nichols: selection criteria will "crush the Iranians"
Staff writer, The Atlantic
“Well, that'll crush the Iranians”
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Tom Nichols's own reply, on X, to Wall Street Journal reporter Lara Seligman's original scoop tweet about the Pentagon's grooming/fitness criteria.
Before the quotation
Posted to X on September 15, 2026, in reply to the Wall Street Journal's initial report on the Pentagon's criteria.
After the quotation
Posted as a direct reply to Wall Street Journal reporter Lara Seligman's original scoop tweet.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Were the Pentagon's Fitness and Grooming Requirements for Hegseth's Speech Appropriate?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Nichols's sarcastic reply -- that seating physically fit, well-groomed troops in the audience will "crush the Iranians" -- mocks the idea that the selection criteria have any bearing on military readiness or deterrence, expressing clear disapproval of the practice as vain and substance-free.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Pete Hegseth, United States Department of Defense
Were the Pentagon's Fitness and Grooming Requirements for Hegseth's Speech Appropriate?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
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“The Pentagon is asking commanders to nominate troops to attend Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's "State of the Force" address this September, and says the servicemembers must meet waist-to-height requirements and exhibit "impeccable" grooming standards—and of course their skin pigment must be white.”Read statement
“Welcome to dress code boot camp, soldiers!”Read statement