A decision by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to bring the approximately 800 most senior generals and admirals in one place for a secretive meeting at Quantico drew fire on MSNBC on Friday morning from retired U.S Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.
During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Hertling, a military analyst for the network, pointed out the danger of pulling the senior military officers from their posts all around the world and putting them in one spot, thereby giving America’s enemies an opportunity to create havoc.
He began by stating, "I’ve never seen anything like this before, and it just seems extremely bizarre and strange,” co-host Joe Scarborough prompted his guest with, “Well, general, let me just ask you strategically how just how stupidly dangerous is this?”
"It's pretty dangerous, Joe,” he conceded. “What I'd say is, you know, a lot of people are looking at it from the generals' perspective. Them thinking, ‘What the heck are we going to hear, because I don't.”
“I think there's, from what I've talked to some of my colleagues that are still active, they don't know what this is about,” he added. “So it could be about a shifting national security strategy. It could be cuts to the general officer corps –– Secretary Hegseth has mentioned that several times. It could be about the upcoming budget stalemate. Or it could be concerns over information leaks or press leaks.”
“But general, don't they have communication systems where they can do that, so we can actually keep our generals and our admirals in the field where they are needed?" the MSNBC host pressed.
“Certainly, Joe and they're called secure video teleconferences. It is,” he replied. “The same thing as a secure computer. Not Snapchat, not Signals app. This is, no kidding, secure stuff.”
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