Confirmed in the night by the Senate at the helm of the Pentagon, the new secretary of the United States defense, Pete Hegseth sent his first message to the armed forces in which he enunciated his ‘mission’ in America and in the world.
And in the world, the former FoxNews anchorman He turned first to Beijing: “We will work with the allies and partners to discourage the aggression of communist China in the Indus-Pacific”. And then, the Pentagon will support “the priority of the president of put an end to the wars In a responsible way and to reorie the main threats. “” We will be at the side of our allies and our enemies are notified, “says Hegseth.
“It is the privilege of a lifetime to guide the warriors of the Department of Defense, under the leadership of our commander in the chief Donald Trump. We will put America first and we will never back”, the words after having sworn in the hands of the vice president JD Vance, from which he had the decisive vote for his confirmation to the Senate.
“The president gave us a clear mission – wrote the former FoxNews of FoxNews – to reach peace through strength, reconstruct our armed forces and restore deterrence”.
“We will revive the ethics of the warrior – said Hegseth – and we will restore trust in our armed forces. We are American warriors. We will defend our country. Our standards will be high, without compromise and clear. The strength of our military is ours units and our purposes shared “.
A ‘restorer’ to the Pentagon
A ‘restorer’ with a thousand unknowns to the Pentagon. Hegseth was confirmed by the Senate on the wool thread – the vice president’s vote decisive -, but his plans for what is one of the key positions of the administrations are still vague.
The only certainties are that with the former Fox anchorman war will be declared war on the ‘Woke’ culture with which – according to the underdog chosen by surprise by Donald Trump – the Democrats would have contaminated the Pentagon and that the military, at least in this first phase , will be called to make their contribution to the migrant deportation program.
During his confirmation hearing in front of the senators, Hegseth said that the troops “will rejoice” for the cancellation of policies in favor of the inclusion of the biden era and promised to bring the “warriors’ culture back to the Pentagon”. The military “want to focus on lethality and war, and free the army of all Wake’s political prerogatives and the politically correct in terms of social justice”, has marked.
Democrats have already attacked Hegseth for some controversial statements from the past in which he criticized the presence of women in combat roles and gays who serve in the army. The new defense secretary – against whom accusations of violent behavior emerged, often under the influence of alcohol, against the ex -wife – has made back on these points, at least publicly.
His opponents also argued that Hegseth, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and left the Army National Guard with the rank of Major in 2021, does not have the character and a military career behind the level that to direct the larger government agency. Hegseth rejected the accusations, supporting – reports political – that his lack of experience is a positive aspect and that the bureaucracy would take advantage of a leader “with dust on the boots”.
Little is known about the positions of the journalist on foreign policy and defense, apart from the adherence to the orthodoxy sorceress of skepticism towards NATO, with the allies criticized as weak, and the alarm for China. As for Ukraine, immediately after the invasion defended Trump for calling Vladimir Putin “a genius”.
From his, however, the Anchorman has the most important quality for Trump, the complete and absolute loyalty to the tycoon. But Hegseth also has another important quality, that of speaking to the sorceress base that brought the tycoon back to the White House, especially thanks to the crusade against what he called “the Woke political deformed of the current military leadership” in the recently published book entitled ‘The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free’, ‘The war against warriors: behind the betrayal of the men who keep us free’.
In the book Hegseth lashes out against the new regulations to ensure respect for diversity, equity and inclusion in the armed forces and also the adoption of the Critical Race Theory, the critical theory of the breed, one of the number one targets of the Trumpian right. His ideas could put him on a collision route with the head of the major states gathered, General CQ Brown, who HEGSETH accuses of “following the extremist positions of left -wing politicians”.
But in addition to the cultural wars and the symbolic move to remove the portrait of General Mark Milley from a corridor of the Pentagon, the former chief of staff accused of “betrayal” by Trump, the agency’s priority is currently the “deportation” of immigrants, one of the electoral promises of Trump bandied on social networks also by the White House.
The Department of Defense hastened throughout the week to send troops and equipment to the border, following the President’s declaration of emergency. Far from “fighting war”, however, the first 1,500 soldiers in active service lined up on the border “will support the detection and monitoring efforts enhanced and will repair and will install physical barriers”, said the North Command in a declaration.