A Department of Defense scholar claimed that Trump nominee Pete Hegseth's objective to bring "warrior culture" back to the Pentagon is a "terrible idea."
"We need soldiers, not warriors," wrote Eliot A. Cohen in an article for The Atlantic.
Hegseth, who served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard, said at his defense secretary hearing, "When President Trump chose me for this position, the primary charge he gave me was—to bring the warrior culture back to the Department of Defense. He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser focused on warfighting, lethality, meritocracy, standards, and readiness."
In his article, Cohen gave the definition of warriors as "people who exult in killing, who prize individual courage and daring, who obsess about honor (often in self-destructive ways), who frequently take trophies from the bodies of their enemies, and whose behavior on and off the battlefield often veers into atrocity."
ALSO READ: Watch: GOP senator raises major red flags about Trump MAGA rioter pardons
"Soldiers are different," Cohen continued.
"They are servants of the state. In well-governed countries, they are bound by discipline, the rule of law, and commitment to comrades and organizations—not to self-glorification. Their virtues are obedience, stoicism, perseverance, and competence. They serve a common good, and duty, not glory, is their prime motivation."