In the early morning hours of Feb. 28, President Donald Trump announced the biggest U.S. war in more than two decades. What was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doing the day before? Announcing a settlement with Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America, to discontinue some diversity initiatives. Hegseth did not succeed in getting the group to kick out girls or revert to its earlier name, but he did convince it to end its “Citizenship in Society” merit badge, earned by scouts who “realize the benefits of diversity, equity, inclusion, and ethical leadership.”
It’s hard to imagine a better symbol of where Hegseth’s priorities lie: He’s more focused on fighting culture wars than actual wars. Hence his decision on Thursday to fire Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, and two other senior Army generals, amid preparations for a possible ground incursion into Iran.
I have long known and admired George; he is an outstanding professional who has done much to help bring the Army into the drone era of military conflict. No less an eminence than retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who compiled a legendary combat record from the Vietnam War to the Gulf War, wrote on X that George is “probably the best leader I’ve encountered in uniform. Integrity. Experienced combat leader. Solid judgement. Courage. Modesty. Takes care of soldiers.”
So why fire George? As usual, no reason was given. But I’m told by an Army officer that Hegseth had long been suspicious of George, who had previously worked for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Most recently, George and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who are close colleagues, had clashed with Hegseth over his demand to remove two women and two members of minorities from the Army’s promotion list to brigadier general. George had requested a meeting with Hegseth to defend the decisions of the Army promotion board. Hegseth refused to see him and instead cashiered him.
George’s replacement, Gen. Christopher LaNeve, is Hegseth’s former military assistant. The Army officer I spoke with said LaNeve “is not well qualified” for the post and “doesn’t have a great reputation.” CNN reports that LaNeve won the White House’s favor hours after Trump’s inauguration last year with a video call from South Korea to the Commander in Chief Ball. LaNeve, backed by about 40 members of his staff, congratulated Trump on his election victory and said, “Welcome back, Mr. President.” Trump gushed: “Is this man central casting or what?”
If there were a political dimension to the Hegseth’s sudden change in Army leadership, it wouldn’t be surprising. He has consistently pursued the MAGA agenda at the cost of politicizing the armed forces. Last week, he quashed an Army investigation into an incident when two Apache helicopters hovered in front of the estate of Trump supporter Kid Rock near Nashville. “No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, patriots,” Hegseth wrote on social media. Would he have been as cavalier about flight safety if the pilots were honoring Bruce Springsteen or some other Trump critic?
In a similar vein, Hegseth banned officers from attending courses or taking fellowships at two dozen elite universities and think tanks, all of which he labeled “woke.” Hegseth wants to reroute officers to avowedly conservative institutions such as Hillsdale College and Liberty University. He also tried to kick the mainstream press corps out of the Pentagon, replacing them with right-wing outlets — a move that a judge ruled unlawful. Yet another judge stepped in when Hegseth tried to punish Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut, now a U.S. senator, for telling troops in November not to obey illegal orders.
But Hegseth’s most corrosive actions have been to fire or sideline more a dozen senior admirals and generals without making clear why. A disproportionate number of them appear to have been ethnic minorities or women. NBC News reports that Hegseth is also blocking the promotion of more than a dozen minority and female officers. One African American officer recently told me that members of minorities in the Pentagon feel as if they have a target on their backs.
If only Hegseth were as skilled and enthusiastic about waging the war against Iran as he is about his culture wars. His main contribution to the war effort seems to be his bombastic and belligerent news conferences, where his premature predictions of victory echo those of “Baghdad Bob,” Saddam Hussein’s infamous propagandist. In one widely mocked moment, Hegseth insisted on March 13, regarding the Strait of Hormuz, that “the only thing prohibiting transit … right now is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit, should Iran not do that.”
Hegseth has appeared to cast the campaign against the Islamic Republic as a holy war, praying at the Pentagon for U.S. troops to inflict “overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy … in the mighty and powerful name of Jesus Christ.” Such remarks have led Pope Leo XIV to speak out against what one Vatican official described as the “exploitation of faith.”
Even more troubling is that, according to news reports, in the run-up to the war, Hegseth downplayed the risks. Time magazine reports that Hegseth was “caught off guard” when Iran attacked other Persian Gulf states. Trump publicly admitted he was surprised by the extent of Iranian retaliation — which he should not have been if he had been properly briefed.
Perhaps because Hegseth wasn’t expecting Iran to put up much of a fight, he failed to take some elementary precautions. The Navy decommissioned its minesweepers, stationed in Bahrain, months before the war began. Hegseth ignored Ukrainian President Voloydymr Zelensky’s offer to share Ukraine’s drone defense technology. The Defense Department did not send ground forces to the region at the beginning of the conflict; they have only now arrived. U.S. forces had not built enough bunkers at vulnerable U.S. bases within missile and drone range of Iran before the campaign began. That led the Pentagon to put out an emergency request on March 23 for “pre-fabricated transportable bunkers” that could be rushed to the Middle East.
Having retired many superb officers, Hegseth himself could wind up getting fired if Trump is looking for scapegoats for a war now markedly unpopular in the United States. But long after Hegseth is gone, the damage he has done to the armed forces with his purges and culture wars will endure.
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