85

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer to step down, the Pentagon said Thursday without giving a reason for the departure as the United States wages a war against Iran.

Occam’s razor says the reason is likely that a 44-year-long career army official refused to further escalate the commission of war crimes that his boss and his boss’s boss keep demanding. Perhaps more firings will continue until WWIII is too big to fail.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] trailee@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

The mid- and low- ranks are taught that their duty is to follow orders above all else. Even with some instruction about war crimes, they’ve still been told that theirs is not to reason why (or make reply), theirs is but to do and die. I wouldn’t call it spinelessness, but I take your point.

The high-level officers are supposed to know better than to order the wrong things, and I have to applaud Randy George for his refusal. Getting fired publicly is presumably the best warning he feels he can provide. But they’ll dig around and find someone more compliant, then proceed.

The article has been updated since I originally posted it, with new developments:

Hegseth also has ousted Army Gen. David Hodne and Army Maj. Gen. William Green, according to a Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive leadership changes. A reason for their departures also was not given.

Gen. Christopher LaNeve will be stepping in as acting Army chief of staff, the Pentagon official said. LaNeve was serving as Hegseth’s top military aide when Trump suddenly nominated him to be the Army’s vice chief of staff last October. It is a meteoric rise for an officer who was only a two-star general two years ago.

So there it is. Anyone with a “meteoric rise” under this administration is a loyalist and will do what the last three before him refused.

I’ve already heard talk of the emergence of the petroyuan. If the petrodollar collapses, so will US hegemony. Existential threats abound for many.

[-] kingofras@lemmy.world 2 points 4 weeks ago

The upside is that the zionist yankee empire is collapsing. The downside is most of us are (a reluctant) part of that empire.

this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2026
85 points (100.0% liked)

Political Discussion and Commentary

1551 readers
1 users here now

A place to discuss politics and offer political commentary. Self posts are preferred, but links to current events and news are allowed. Opinion pieces are welcome on a case by case basis, and discussion of and disagreement about issues is encouraged!

The intent is for this community to be an area for open & respectful discussion on current political issues, news & events, and that means we all have a responsibility to be open, honest, and sincere. We place as much emphasis on good content as good behavior, but the latter is more important if we want to ensure this community remains healthy and vibrant.

Content Rules:

  1. Self posts preferred.
  2. Opinion pieces and editorials are allowed on a case by case basis.
  3. No spam or self promotion.
  4. Do not post grievances about other communities or their moderators.

Commentary Rules

  1. Don’t be a jerk or do anything to prevent honest discussion.
  2. Stay on topic.
  3. Don’t criticize the person, criticize the argument.
  4. Provide credible sources whenever possible.
  5. Report bad behavior, please don’t retaliate. Reciprocal bad behavior will reflect poorly on both parties.
  6. Seek rule enforcement clarification via private message, not in comment threads.
  7. Abide by Lemmy's terms of service (attacks on other users, privacy, discrimination, etc).

Please try to up/downvote based on contribution to discussion, not on whether you agree or disagree with the commenter.

Partnered Communities:

Politics

Science

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS