Pentagon insiders call out Pete Hegseth over harmful officer purges

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth is increasingly isolated and under pressure over his erratic leadership style and scandalous decisions. The hard-right Iraq veteran’s macho approach has led to ‘disarray’ at the Pentagon, some claim. The truth is Hegseth’s and Trump’s are the logical endpoint of violent empire — and there’s no point crying about it.

For example, some at the heart of US war machine have said Hegseth’s habit of firing or retiring senior military officers who are black or women is damaging the system.

The Guardian said that the “rumbustious” defence secretary had:

made it his mission to remake a military ethos he denounced as “woke”, has fired or forcibly retired 24 generals and senior commanders, with no performance-related reason given.

About 60% have been Black or female, an approach seemingly driven by the administration’s proclaimed onslaught against “DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) hires”.

At a congressional defence committee hearing on 29 April, Hegseth denied he’d been ordered by Trump to weed out particular officers. “Of course not” he said, adding that:

Members on this committee and the previous leadership of this department were focused on height, social engineering, race and gender in ways that we think were unhealthy.

It’s worth asking where this anti-‘woke’ impulse comes from.

Project 2025 made reality

Hegseth’s far-right views reflect those of Project 2025, a hyper-conservative vision for Trump’s rule developed by the Heritage Foundation and other right-wing think tanks. This connection—and the attitudes which ride with it—have not gone unnoticed.

Retired US army major-general Paul Eaton said:

It [Project 2025] talked about an officer purge and going after the so-called woke officers at the senior level.

They want to create ideologically pure armed forces that will be pliant to the president and his secretary of defense and whose oath will be more to a person than to the constitution.

Eaton was certain that the leadership of the US military had been substantially damaged by Hegseth’s tinkering.

Former US army colonel Kevin Carroll told the Guardian:

All the retired officers I know are seriously concerned of the long-term effect on the force of senior leaders saying things like no quarter, no mercy (comments that have been made by Hegseth), or [that] we’re going to eliminate a civilization without any remonstration from the senior military officials.

Former national security analyst Joe Cirincione said:

For years, we’ve been told that we don’t have to worry about a crazy president launching a nuclear war, because the military would not carry out any illegal order,” who called for new rules of command over nuclear strikes […] But that’s not real. What we’ve seen in the last year is the military repeatedly carrying out illegal orders. The attacks on the alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, the raid to seize [President Nicolas] Maduro in Venezuela, the war on Iran, have all been illegal – yet the military carried them all out.

Carroll complained that even though there had been disagreements over the 2003 Iraq War:

It was all very professional and civil. This is just disarray. It’s crazy.

Oh for the more optimistic and civil days of the Iraq invasion…

The influential figures might have a point in here somewhere. But it’s hard not to get the sense that their problem isn’t empire – rather it is Trump and Hegseth’s more blunderbuss approach to US power. For that reason, and others, these individuals don’t elicit much sympathy. If anything, they seem to ache for a more stable American hegemon.

Ultimately, what these long-time insiders seem to have missed is that US empire is waning and devouring itself. There will be no going back to a more liberal, palatable, paternalistic, or predictable version of American global authority. Though suggesting it was ever any of these things is a hell of a reach of itself…

Featured image via the Canary