Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave a "chilling" message to all the generals working beneath him in his response to the exploding scandal over the killing of unarmed shipwreck survivors, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told CNN's Erin Burnett on Monday's edition of "OutFront."
The killings, first reported last week, have been widely condemned by experts as war crimes. Hegseth's response has been twofold: to categorically stand by the order, but also to claim that it wasn't even his order in the first place.
"So Secretary Hegseth has just posted something that I wanted to ask you about," said Burnett. "He said: 'Let’s make one thing crystal clear: Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support. I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since. America is fortunate to have such men protecting us. When this @DeptofWar says we have the back of our warriors — we mean it.'"
"Okay, let me just translate this into, he's pinning this on Bradley, okay?" said Burnett. "He's saying that that's — that's what that's about, right? I mean, where do you see this heading?"
"He is passing the buck," said Murphy. "He sort of sees the freight train that is coming, right? That both Republicans and Democrats are coming to the conclusion that this was an illegal, wildly immoral act. And he is shifting the blame. It's the opposite of the buck stops here. And, boy, it's a chilling signal to everyone in the chain of command that the Secretary of Defense does not have your back."
"Now, in this case, it seems likely that he actually did give the order that he gave the order to kill everyone on that boat, and those in the chain of command were simply following his orders," Murphy added. "But he is basically telling everyone, all of his generals, all of the professional staff at the Department of Defense, that I'm going to save myself if things get tough. And that's just devastating for American national security."
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