Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's top henchman in the Department of Defense sparked fury on Sunday after he made a damning admission about President Donald Trump's war against Iran on social media.
The Washington Post reported earlier in the day that several of the military's top leaders have sent Hegseth "non-concurring" orders, or statements letting the secretary know that they disagree with an order. The order that received the most recent batch of non-concurring orders was Hegseth's directive to maintain the 50,000-troop threshold in the Middle East that the U.S. has amassed in its fight against Iran, a level that generals described as "unsustainable," according to the report.
Insiders who spoke with the Post said the non-concurring orders appeared in Hegseth's Aug. 14 Secretary of Defense Orders Book, a classified document.
Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesperson and a senior adviser to Hegseth, posted on X that publishing classified information like what the Post obtained "is a crime," even though the Supreme Court said otherwise in U.S. v. Nixon. He added that "non-concurs are standard" and that "the Secretary sees them constantly," two claims that raised the eyebrows of political analysts and military experts.
"That’s how you run a real military," Parnell wrote in his post. "We are in great shape around the world. This story isn’t about readiness. It’s [Trump Derangement Syndrome] and [Pete Derangement Syndrome] — they hate President Trump and Secretary Hegseth more than they love America."
Reactions poured in online.
"Whiskey @PeteHegseth's chief propagandist says 'we' are doing great, which makes you wonder why Whiskey Pete got his a-- handed to him by Iran and why people are jumping off aircraft carriers?" Marcy Wheeler, a journalist who goes by "EmptyWheel" online, posted on X. "When will these boys get their d---- out of their hands and start honoring the service members ... or better yet, quit and let someone competent take over?"
"How is it that Parnell has not heard of the Pentagon Papers case? Attacking the media for publishing this information shows a shocking degree of historical and legal ignorance," John Jackson, a military veteran, posted on X.
"In the Pentagon Papers case, the Supreme Court ruled that it is legal to publish top-secret info and that the free press has a responsibility to do so to prevent the government from deceiving the public, especially during wartime," Craig Whitlock, an investigative journalist at The Washington Post, wrote on X.
"Well, I guess that's confirmation of the story," Tom Nichols, a national security expert, posted on X.
