#warrior ethos

The unexplained dismissals [of the top military lawyers by Hegseth] prompted widespread concern. “In some ways that’s even more chilling than firing the four stars,” Rosa Brooks, a professor at Georgetown Law, wrote on X. “It’s what you do when you’re planning to break the law: you get rid of any lawyers who might try to slow you down.” [color emphasis added]

This excellent article by Greg Jaffe is worth reading, so this is a gift 🎁 link, that enables reading the entire article without a paywall.

Hegseth doesn't believe in following the Geneva Conventions.

The article describes how Hegseth does not believe that the U.S. military needs to abide by the Geneva Conventions. Instead, he believes in a "warrior ethos" that would allow the American military to do whatever they think necessary to win, including committing war crimes.

According to Jaffe:

In Mr. Hegseth’s Senate confirmation testimony, lawmakers sought to pin him down on what he meant when he referred to the “warrior ethos” and whether he believed U.S. forces should follow the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice even when America’s enemies ignore them. His answers were often evasive. “An America First national security policy is not going to hand its prerogatives over to international bodies that make decisions about how our men and women make decisions on the battlefield,” Mr. Hegseth replied. [color emphasis added]

Jaffe implies that this is the most likely reason why Hegseth decided "to replace the military's judge advocates general — typically three-star military officers." The three who were let go with "zero heads up" were "Lt. Gen. Joseph B. Berger III, Air Force Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer and Rear Adm. Lia M. Reynolds."

War crimes and murder by our troops are okay with Hegseth, if such crimes enable the US to win.

According to the article, in 2019, Hegseth pleaded with Trump to pardon "U.S. troops accused or convicted of war crimes or murder." Trump ended up pardoning "two soldiers and a Navy SEAL" According to Jaffe:

One of the pardoned soldiers was First Lt. Clint Lorance, who was turned in by his own troops after he ordered them to fire on unarmed Afghans over 100 yards away from his platoon, killing them. The soldier then radioed a false report claiming the bodies had been removed and couldn’t be searched for weapons. [...] To Mr. Hegseth, the pardon Lieutenant Lorance received represented justice. [...] Senior Army lawyers strongly disagreed with the decision to pardon Lieutenant Lorance, according to Pentagon officials. Among those most upset by the presidential pardon were the troops who served under him and made the difficult decision to accuse him of war crimes and testify at trial. “I thought of the Army as this altruistic thing,” Lucas Gray, who served under Lieutenant Lorance in Afghanistan, told The Washington Post. “I thought it was perfect and honorable. It pains me to tell you how stupid and naive I was.” “The Lorance stuff just broke my faith,” he said, adding: “And once you lose your values and your faith, the Army is just another job you hate.” [color emphasis added]

Is Hegseth our own Werner von Blomberg?

Unfortunately, it appears that Hegseth is now Trump's own General Werner von Blomberg, who as Nazi Germany's Minister of Defense and Minister of War was instrumental in increasing Nazi Germany's military might prior to WWII.

Image sources: Blomberg (before edits); Hegseth (before edits/manipulations)

Like Blomberg, Hegseth is a neofascist. Hegseth places his loyalty to Trump over the Constitution.

Like Blomberg, Hegseth is sympathetic to white supremacist beliefs. This is evidenced by Hesgeth's "Deus Vult" tattoo on his "inner" bicep,and his dedication to eliminating DEI and "woke" values in the military.

[See more under the cut.]