Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's efforts to control the narrative surrounding the Iran war have instead exposed how little control he has over the situation, a columnist argued Saturday.

The critique of Hegseth's actions against military journalists and service members who have reported untenable conditions — as the war stretches into its seventh month — came from Salon analyst Sophia Tesfaye.

"Rather than addressing any systemic failures on the part of the department, Hegseth’s command structure has resorted to authoritarian retaliation," Tesfaye wrote. "The silencing of the press and scapegoating of desperate sailors does not hide Hegseth’s mess."

Tesfaye detailed a series of ongoing scandals that Hegseth has been unable to contain, including the Pentagon's firing of three journalists at its military newspaper, Stars and Stripes, and the suicide attempts reported aboard the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln.

Stars and Stripes, a Pentagon-funded publication that has operated for more than eight decades and serves U.S. service members worldwide, has historically maintained an editorial independence guaranteed by Congress — a separation that has come under strain amid the leadership purge, drawing attention from press freedom advocates.

Far from curbing criticism, Hegseth has turned the military newspaper into a household name, as the fired publisher, editor-in-chief and a reporter pursue legal action against the federal government — and in doing so revealed something significant about the Trump administration, Tesfaye argued.

"Hegseth’s purging of the publication’s editorial leadership, under the fraudulent guise of insubordination, for making troubling information public is a signal that the administration’s public relations take precedence over the lives and wellbeing of American service members," she wrote. "This is how an insecure political operation behaves when the facts catch up with its propaganda."

Hegseth has likewise failed to persuade the public that a sailor who attempted suicide by jumping overboard from the Lincoln was guilty of "malingering" — the disciplinary charge that sailor now faces, Tesfaye argued.

Outrage has continued to mount as military families report that their loved ones are suffering food shortages and severe exhaustion aboard the Lincoln, which is slated to return to the U.S. soon. The carrier's planned homecoming is likely to keep conditions aboard the ship — and how the Navy accounts for them — in public view in the weeks ahead.

"The war’s abysmal poll numbers show the American people see through the fog of Hegseth’s propaganda," she concluded.

Sources: Salon, USS Abraham Lincoln coverage, The Guardian. Original reporting: Raw Story