Hegseth demands military commit more war crimes.
Hegseth demands military commit more war crimes.
by Emily Singer/Daily Kos
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday gave a disgraceful speech to the military's top brass in which he said the military should ditch its code of ethics, weaken investigations in war crimes, and eliminate anything and everything related to diversity—and told anyone who didn’t like it to resign.
Hegseth said the military will no longer abide by a code of ethics that aims to reduce violence and casualties.
"We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement," Hegseth said, adding that the military will "kill people and break things for a living."
He promised to neuter inspectors general who probe allegations of misconduct, which is likely to lead to more war crimes.
"We are overhauling an inspector general process … that has been weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues, and poor performers in the driver’s seat,” Hegseth said. “We are doing the same with the equal-opportunity and military equal-opportunity policies. … No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complainants ... no more walking on eggshells."
In President Donald Trump’s first term, Hegseth successfully convinced Trump to pardon soldiers accused or convicted of war crimes. Now he will seemingly change the rules so people who commit war crimes are never punished in the first place.
During his speech, Hegseth said he will allow basic-training drill sergeants to beat up recruits, which is sure to cause fewer soldiers to come forward when they’ve been sexually assaulted or abused by people supposedly on their side.
Hegseth also said he will end what he called the "toxic ideological garbage" in the military, saying, "No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris. As I've said before and I'll say it again, we are done with that shit."
The speech likely cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The unqualified ex-host of a Fox News weekend program forced hundreds of U.S. generals and admirals stationed all over the world to fly in on a moment's notice so he could deliver his vile speech.
Ultimately, Hegseth said that if the military leaders he forced to sit through his despicable speech didn't like what he had to say, they should resign.
Of course, not content with letting his defense secretary get all of the spotlight, Trump addressed the military brass himself, telling them that they should worship at his feet and that if they don’t like it, they will be fired.
If you want to applaud, you applaud,” Trump said, after saying that the room was too “silent” when he walked in. “And If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future.”
Before speaking to the military leaders, Trump defended the cost of the idiotic gathering.
"There's a little expense to that," Trump said of getting all these generals and admirals in the same room. "But this was the one time we had to do a great spiritizing. It's going to be great."
Democrats slammed Trump and Hegseth’s shameful display, calling it a waste of money.
“He billed the taxpayers millions to fly every general to Washington to hear this weirdo drivel,” Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, wrote in a post on X.
by Emily Singer/Daily Kos
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday gave a disgraceful speech to the military's top brass in which he said the military should ditch its code of ethics, weaken investigations in war crimes, and eliminate anything and everything related to diversity—and told anyone who didn’t like it to resign.
Hegseth said the military will no longer abide by a code of ethics that aims to reduce violence and casualties.
"We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement," Hegseth said, adding that the military will "kill people and break things for a living."
He promised to neuter inspectors general who probe allegations of misconduct, which is likely to lead to more war crimes.
"We are overhauling an inspector general process … that has been weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues, and poor performers in the driver’s seat,” Hegseth said. “We are doing the same with the equal-opportunity and military equal-opportunity policies. … No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complaints, no more repeat complainants ... no more walking on eggshells."
In President Donald Trump’s first term, Hegseth successfully convinced Trump to pardon soldiers accused or convicted of war crimes. Now he will seemingly change the rules so people who commit war crimes are never punished in the first place.
During his speech, Hegseth said he will allow basic-training drill sergeants to beat up recruits, which is sure to cause fewer soldiers to come forward when they’ve been sexually assaulted or abused by people supposedly on their side.
Hegseth also said he will end what he called the "toxic ideological garbage" in the military, saying, "No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship. No more division, distraction, or gender delusions. No more debris. As I've said before and I'll say it again, we are done with that shit."
The speech likely cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The unqualified ex-host of a Fox News weekend program forced hundreds of U.S. generals and admirals stationed all over the world to fly in on a moment's notice so he could deliver his vile speech.
Ultimately, Hegseth said that if the military leaders he forced to sit through his despicable speech didn't like what he had to say, they should resign.
Of course, not content with letting his defense secretary get all of the spotlight, Trump addressed the military brass himself, telling them that they should worship at his feet and that if they don’t like it, they will be fired.
If you want to applaud, you applaud,” Trump said, after saying that the room was too “silent” when he walked in. “And If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future.”
Before speaking to the military leaders, Trump defended the cost of the idiotic gathering.
"There's a little expense to that," Trump said of getting all these generals and admirals in the same room. "But this was the one time we had to do a great spiritizing. It's going to be great."
Democrats slammed Trump and Hegseth’s shameful display, calling it a waste of money.
“He billed the taxpayers millions to fly every general to Washington to hear this weirdo drivel,” Sen. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, wrote in a post on X.
