Rubio wisely used espionage and special forces in a way where the US could claim victory regardless of the outcome. Any conquest is an American win. Any defeat can be recharacterized as terrorism, villainous tyrannical socialism, drug cartel violence, or generic brown person evil.
Hegseth stupidly charged head first into a losing conflict where he bragged about being the aggressor. Not only did he lose, but he adopted the persona of a cartoon supervillain while losing.
