What a memorable Friday evening unfolded on Sky News, not long ago. For eighty minutes, the cameras continuously recorded as Donald Trump hosted twenty of the planet’s most influential petroleum magnates.
The sole petroleum executive conspicuously absent was J. R. Ewing from South Fork, despite Homeland Security’s persistent belief that he met his demise at a Texan cookout many years prior.
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Also, and curiously, absent from the main platform was the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, whose department delivered successful outcomes in Venezuela for Uncle Sam. President Trump lavishly praised the US military action that destabilized Caracas a week prior, with no reported casualties, yet he never once mentioned Pete, nor did anyone else present in the room. It fell to Ireland’s President Connolly to remind the global community that actual lives were lost in the Venezuelan military operation. Among those confirmed deceased were Venezuelan and Cuban security personnel tasked with safeguarding President Nicolás Maduro. “Super Bigote” (Mustache) himself was last observed undertaking the degrading “perp walk” from a US military helicopter.
But what became of Pete?
Merely a few months ago, the influential figures of Trump’s administration were seated, resembling the three wise monkeys, on the Oval Office couch. Occupying the primary position, in order of precedence, was the designated successor, the Consiglieri, VP J. D. Vance. Following him was the Secretary of State, Marco Polo, a frequent traveler who, however, lacks the requisite assertiveness to be a formidable challenger for the MAGA leadership. Lastly, the aforementioned Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, sat rigidly attentive, poised to obey his master’s commands.
For some period, I have developed an unhealthy preoccupation with the key players of the current US government. Whoever asserted that all avenues lead to Rome was mistaken, profoundly mistaken. All pathways converge on Washington DC. We find ourselves clandestinely observing the court of Donald the First, encircled by fawning luminaries of the neo-right as they strategize the partitioning of Venezuela’s oil reserves.
In that pre-Christmas installment of The Apprentice, the challenge was to foresee which of his three loyal aides would be dismissed first. Significant attention was focused on Pete Hegseth, who had once again acted impulsively, this time in the Caribbean region.
So, will this mark three infractions, leading to dismissal for the Secretary of War?
Last July, he prematurely disclosed a top-secret operation on an unsecure Signal application. The operation involved a pre-scheduled US Air Force bombardment against Houthi insurgents in Yemen. Regrettably, the US National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, had included Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, as a recipient in the app. Waltz bore the consequences and was discharged. There was no pressing operational necessity for Hegseth to furnish the information to the Signal group initially. What motivated his actions? Did he intend to curry favor with these officials? Was he attempting to demonstrate his omnipotence? Was he driven by self-importance?
This certainly appeared to be the case on September 30, when he addressed the senior military command of the US Armed Forces in Quantico, Virginia.
Witnessing Secretary Hegseth defy the high-ranking officers in Quantico and strut around the platform, I recalled the Southern idiom “going hog wild.” This memory originated from my service with the US Army in Fort Benning, Georgia. Fond recollections.
He had much to impart, yet he was unreceptive to any input the military leadership might have wished to offer him. It was a unilateral communication, a tirade where disagreement could provoke immediate dismissal from office.
Hegseth’s primary military background was as a junior officer, and he was lecturing an audience who, to be blunt, had accumulated vast experience and achievements long before Pete was but a mere youth. His presentation before the military command was insolent, boastful, and demeaning. His discourse, at times, overtly encouraged active members of the US military to be insubordinate to their superior officers.
Should the officers present in Quantico act upon his pronouncements, the standing of women in the US Armed Forces would be severely diminished, as would that of LGBTQ+ individuals and soldiers with disabilities who effectively contribute to national defense in non-combative capacities. He disparaged the overweight generals and admirals he encountered daily in the Pentagon, clearly indicating that, for him, outward appearance held greater significance than actual merit.
The entire display was intended to be intimidating, to instill dread into valiant professional servicemen and women. The message was unequivocal: align with Hegseth’s worldview, or depart the military.
US and international legal scholars continue to question the legitimacy of militarily engaging suspected narcotics vessels operating in both the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific Ocean. The majority of attacks since September occurred in the Caribbean, with 117 fatalities reported by February 5. There were no media accounts of US ships and aircraft coming under hostile fire in these occurrences, nothing, at least, that would warrant a shoot-to-kill mandate, considering the immense firepower at the disposal of the Americans.
The US Navy and the Coast Guard possessed the capacity to intercept these vessels, verify their contents, and apprehend their crews. The potential threat these presumed drug traffickers might pose to US warships did not, inherently, automatically grant Uncle Sam, or rather Uncle Pete, the authority to conduct these indiscriminate killings. The protocols for engagement in conflict situations are inapplicable in this instance.
Conversely, the waters off the Gaza coast were, and remain, within a conflict zone, where the standard for justifying the discharge of live ammunition in self-defense is lower than during peacetime anti-drug operations. In the instance of the estimated 60 boat convoys that sought to breach the Israeli blockade of Gaza last September, the Israeli Navy successfully intercepted the vessels and detained the activists without a single loss of life.
Within a democratic system, the military must consistently remain subservient to the civilian government. The dynamic of the political-military relationship can prove pivotal, even during periods of peace. It constitutes a reciprocal arrangement, and mutual deference is paramount. Firstly, the military must honor and comply with the directives of the civilian authority. Concurrently, the civilian authority ought to respect the military. Civilian authority refers to political leadership, not administrative service authority. It is a symbiotic connection where the democratically elected representative must, in a democracy, always hold preeminence.
As Trump has distanced himself from Elon Musk, Pete Hegseth represents the newest follower in the Musk sphere, receiving hospitality at Musk’s space facility.
However, by endeavoring to shift responsibility for the September 2 killing of shipwrecked survivors in the Caribbean onto the operational commander, Admiral Bradley, Secretary Hegseth may have ignited the spark that will ultimately lead to his removal from the Pentagon.