After just 50 days as Donald Trump's secretary of defense, former Fox News weekend host Pete Hegseth is getting poor grades from a retired general who claims he sees no progress being made to improve the U.S. military's capabilities.
In an interview with the Guardian's Ben Makuch, retired Brigadier General Paul Eaton, accused Hegseth –– who he derisively referred to as a “Saturday showman on Fox News” –– still shows signs that he is "unfit" to run the Pentagon.
According to the general, Hegseth has done nothing but destroy long-term military programs that contribute nothing to improving U.S. military capabilities, telling the Guardian, "What are we seeing in the Pentagon right now? What are we hearing about the future of warfare? What are we hearing about the transformation that is necessary, right now, as we come out of the last two decades of warfighting?”
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“We’re hearing of DEI purging,” he added.
Eaton continued, "What we’re seeing is nibbling around the edges of a culture with a dominant theme that does nothing to prepare the armed forces of the United States to meet its next peer or near peer opponent."
The retired general's accusations were echoed by Caroline Zier, who served as deputy chief of staff to the previous Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
"Comments that question the qualifications and accomplishments of women in uniform are deeply disrespectful of the sacrifices these service members and their families have made for our country,” she explained.
The Guardian's Makuch also noted that Hegseth's dismantling of the Pentagon, writing, "Not only was Hegseth a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was also a major veteran voice that railed against the Biden administration’s handling of withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Part of that included criticisms of abandoning allies, and yet Hegseth’s time at the top of the Pentagon has coincided with the unprecedented undermining of global alliances – suspending things such as offensive cyber missions countering Russia – which has blemished confidence in military interoperability and intelligence sharing."
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