Josh Steel

And now we understand the absolutely rabid obsession with destroying Pete Hegseth. I’ve been in the Army since before 9/11. Served under many secretaries. Only in the past 18 months have I experienced: >politicians warning me not to follow illegal orders >billboards outside military bases telling me to report war crimes >the media attacking anyone who has a positive thing to say about the man, and defending anyone who hates him >stunning volume of leaks from senior officials trying to undermine him, and the lionizing of the leakers by the press >being called a war criminal myself, hundreds of times a day >a sustained media narrative portraying virtually every firing or senior officer removal as a “purge” >public efforts by retired officers, advocacy groups, and political figures to mobilize service members and military communities against administration policies >influential “Americans” publicly cheering for Iran This is just to name a few. I’ve NEVER experienced anything like this before. And it’s becoming abundantly clear that the concerted effort to divide the military from within was stunted when Hegseth took over. Anyone desiring color revolution needs control of the military. That’s color revolution 101. Is it starting to make sense yet? Now you see the obsession over him in particular. It’s not a coincidence. And it damn sure isn’t because of his culture war. It’s because by all objective metrics, he runs a military that snatches rogue leaders from their beds, destroys entire militaries, and successfully mobilizes assets to save one downed pilot in the middle of enemy territory by building an Air Force base… in the middle of enemy territory. Secures the border, dominates the hemisphere. Hunts drug cartels. The list goes on. He is by all meaningful accounts, effective at wielding the machine. And that is why they drool at the thought of removing him. In years past you’d be hard pressed to find a junior Soldier who knew the name of the cabinet secretary above them. Every one of them knows Pete Hegseth. Every one.

If there is a "common refrain today from active and retired senior Army officers: "This is Bulls**t!" in reference to someone being held accountable for leaking classified information... then my common refrain to all of them is "How are all the active ones not fired yet?". The NYT is often a joke. Chief joker among them is Greg "I love diversity more than life itself" Jaffe. But there is always a nugget of truth in these things. I firmly believe senior Army leadership is probably upset. My defiant question in return is are you Generals sure this is what you want to be upset about? But no, the question will fall on deaf ears. Because the system is self insulating and serves only to protect itself. They should be upset about leaking. Not the reputation of the leaker. But that's all the Army has been for decades: a reputation protecting machine. I've told you that officer truthfulness is a chief national security concern in my view. I mean it. And I will die on this hill. We MUST get dramatic about removing the rot that plagues the force.