It seems Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth seeks to prove his manhood by advocating for a tough take-no-prisoners approach to war. He believes that fighting a war takes men tough enough in mind and body to “maximize lethality not tepid legality.” He asserts, “Dads push us to take risks. Moms put the training wheels on our bike. We need mom’s, but not in the military, especially in combat units.”
As a military veteran, he apparently seeks to disassociate himself from that time when the military included in its ranks, in his words, “fat generals and admirals.” Any association with the LGBT+ community apparently threatens him. Hegseth’s aim is “to eliminate any distraction from, or impediment to, the core task of killing people America wants dead and destroying stuff America wants destroyed … No programs to minimize civilian deaths. No ‘stupid rules of engagement’ that tie soldiers’ hands. No ‘fat troops’ or ‘beardos’ or ships named after Harvey Milk or Harriet Tubman.” The White House celebrates “the most lethal military on Earth.” The Heritage Foundation crows about “a military focused on lethality.”
In an apparent effort to justify his bravado, Hegseth also is moving to terminate Pentagon offices and positions that focus on preventing and responding to civilian harm during U.S. combat operations, according to three defense officials. Hegseth’s action is consistent with President Donald Trump’s naming him “Secretary of War,” but it is the antithesis to the Congressional designation of Secretary of Defense.
In contrast to Hegseth’s advocacy for the lethality of war, Brigadier General (Ret.) Huba Wass de Czege, writing for the U.S. Army War College, explains that there are four broad and basic categories of purpose for war — “deter aggression, defend a status quo, enforce changes to an intolerable situation, and pacify a violent population….”
Nothing in this list suggests that the purpose of war is lethality. Wass de Czege writes that preparation for war should never confuse potential lethal force with power. This is the weakness of Hegseth’s position. Power, according to Wass de Czege, is not lethality but rather establishing an effective defense. He writes, “All other things being equal, the defense merely has to cause the attack to fail to achieve its aim.” The purpose of a well-prepared defense is to erode the attacker’s momentum, constraining its freedom of action, and causing the attack to culminate before it succeeds. The means to accomplish this are clearly tactical rather than aggressively offensive.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth would do well to become familiar with the writings of Brigadier General (Ret.) Huba Wass de Czege as well as with the U.S. Army War College’s clear and imaginative discourse about defense policy and military strategies toward the world. He must learn to free himself from interjecting his personal sense of machismo into the policies of the United States military. An active intellect is more effective than a demonstration of brawn.
It is important to reject the image of the United States as an aggressor nation. That image is dangerous and a weak position that causes only aggressive responses from adversaries. If Hegseth is to remain in office, it would behoove him to aspire to building an American military that is inclusive and consistent with the American value of safety for civilians, domestic and foreign, and the value of keeping the peace with as little lethality as possible. It is good for the well-being of our military forces and for our country.
John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com.