Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has initiated a major overhaul of the Pentagon leadership, firing over a dozen high-ranking military officials, including Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown Jr., and Adm. Lisa Franchetti. The moves, often executed without specific reasons, are part of a broader, controversial effort to remove officers deemed misaligned with the administration’s priorities. Hegseth has also faced intense criticism for declaring that “no quarter” would be given to enemies in Iran, a statement interpreted as ordering troops to kill surrendering combatants, which is a war crime under international law.
The actions have caused friction with leaders like Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and increasing skepticism of the administration’s competency in waging wars.
Listen in:
In our latest, we talk about the war inside the Pentagon between military leadership and Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
It’s also the anniversary of the Vietnam Vets Against the War founding (in 1967) and one of their most known mass actions, Dewey Canyon III (in 1971) and we discuss why military dissent is important.
Sign up to get updates on scrappy politics, scrappy history and our scrappy podcast.