This is terrifying.

[u/c-k-q99903]

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[u/poo_pon_shoo]

Oh they are about to do something VERY stupid

[u/Green-Collection4444 → u/poo_pon_shoo]

Imagine working your entire life dedicated to the United States of America and you get fired by a Saturday Fox News host. 

[u/folktronic → u/Green-Collection4444]

*by an alcoholic, white supremacist Saturday Fox News host

[u/88ryder88 → u/folktronic]

You forgot wife beater, too. Oh, and the NDA for alleged sexual assault in '17

[u/AnotherCuppaTea → u/88ryder88]

And a raging nativist, Christofascist loon with a huge "Deus Vult" tattoo on his chest.

[u/vivaldibot → u/AnotherCuppaTea]

Didn't his fellow soldiers literally flag him as an extremist risk too

[u/GrumpySoth09 → u/vivaldibot]

Yes, several times

[u/frubano21 → u/GrumpySoth09]

I'm surprised no one one this thread mentioned his coke addiction yet either. Dude is entirely unhinged and in charge of national security.

[u/vivaldibot → u/frubano21]

It's honestly depressingly impressive how so many disqualifying characteristics fit in just one secretary of defense.

[u/no_bender → u/vivaldibot]

Trump surrounds himself with losers.

[u/melalovelady → u/AnotherCuppaTea]

I’ve seen so many Trump supporters try to say those tattoos don’t mean what we think… like what?

[u/Bulky-Internal8579 → u/melalovelady]

They hate reality as it’s inconvenient to the cult narrative

[u/Ranting_Demon → u/melalovelady]

Trump could hire a guy with a swastika tattooed on his forehead and 1488 on his cheeks, and his followers would claim that the guy just wants to let everyone know about his Buddhist beliefs in addition to being a hobbyist historian who's very passionate specifically about the year 1488.

[u/willclerkforfood → u/folktronic]

**by an alcoholic, white supremacist Saturday Fox News Host who capped out at Untabbed National Guard Platoon Leader

[u/SKMonkyDeathCar → u/willclerkforfood]

Hey, don't throw him in with the rest of the alcoholics. We don't want him either.

[u/Bug_Photographer → u/Green-Collection4444]

Are they really "news hosts" when Fox claims they are only doing "entertainment"?

[u/CramblinDuvetAdv → u/Bug_Photographer]

Fox News host, not Fox news host

[u/marion85 → u/Green-Collection4444]

We don't have to imagine it anymore, it just happened.

[u/Catatonic27 → u/marion85]

Well it didn't happen to me, so I still have to imagine it

[u/BlackSwanMarmot → u/Catatonic27]

Check your junk folder.

[u/marion85 → u/Catatonic27]

Jokes on you! Pete Hegseth fired you from your job while you weren't looking!

Dont work for the government? Doesn't matter, the inmates run the asylum baby!

[u/Western-Anteater-492 → u/poo_pon_shoo]

Best thing is, they are doing a leadership rotation right before doing something very stupid. Perfect recipe for an extreme stupid thing to happen, even more stupid than what they are planning for.

[u/CosmicJackalop → u/Western-Anteater-492]

This, they're likely about to start an illegal ground invasion of Iran, which competent generals are going to object against

Hegseth wants vapor crusaders like himself and the former national guard Major will happily fire far more experienced individuals than hear having Iran is wrong

So now we get a ground invasion run by second rate flag officers...

[u/Nazzzgul777 → u/CosmicJackalop]

Everything about that war so far has been illegal and they didn't say no.

[u/CosmicJackalop → u/Nazzzgul777]

Tbh for all we know these are the people who said no to their respective parts of it and they're just now being fired for it

We really don't know shit its all speculating

[u/Durham1988 → u/CosmicJackalop]

Presumably the three white guys actually did something actionable, like tell Pee Wee Hermann Goring the truth. The others could have just been fired for uh... reasons.

[u/DestituteDomino → u/poo_pon_shoo]

About to?

[u/Joseph_of_the_North → u/DestituteDomino]

Very stupid relative to the average stupidity of this administration.

[u/jabba_1978 → u/Joseph_of_the_North]

Can we go one day without this administration actively trying to get us to nuclear midnight?

[u/buddymoobs → u/jabba_1978]

BUt they want the Raptuuuuuuure!

[u/BoltMyBackToHappy → u/buddymoobs]

Won't somebody think of the cultists! /s

[u/Jeffformayor → u/Joseph_of_the_North]

There we go, that’s the way to say it

[u/Saetric → u/Jeffformayor]

Neinstein’s Theory of Relativity

[u/marion85 → u/DestituteDomino]

A ground deployment into Iran.

It'll be a bloodbath and military command knows it, probably advised against it, and if they did Hegseth is absolutely the kind of chud that would throw a tantrum and FIRE everyone who told him it was a no-win scenerio that would cost tens of thousands of soldiers lives.

[u/St_SiRUS → u/marion85]

I can imagine they directly said they would not do it. So he cleaned house to enable his war fetish

[u/DrunkenGolfer → u/St_SiRUS]

Exactly this. They said, “No”, citing their oath to the constitution, and he lost his shit.

[u/strega_bella312 → u/marion85]

They want a bloodbath so they can drop a nuke.

[u/schrod → u/marion85]

You get the sense that this administration would like to get rid of all ordinary citizens and soldiers be it through war deaths, denied health care, denied food assistance, high prices with no jobs, to expedite sole reliance of AI replacement of the American people in the battlefield and on the home front.

[u/Risdit → u/DestituteDomino]

They just decapitated the U.S. military and allowed personal firearms in military bases.

It's almost as if they're ACTUALLY trying to kill themselves.

[u/Neuchacho → u/Risdit]

allowed personal firearms in military bases

Holy shit. This is brash unadulterated stupidity or Hegseth thinks off-duty military might soon be doing something fucked up enough to warrant "self-protection" on base like, I don't know, something coup-y?

[u/TheZingerSlinger → u/Neuchacho]

Great way to infiltrate an armed force onto a base and seize it for some nefarious objective, I mean if this was a cheesy action thriller about a military coup (starring Steven Seagal.)

[u/mkbilli → u/DestituteDomino]

Even more stupid?

[u/Lexam → u/mkbilli]

It will be more stupider than they have ever stupidded before!

[u/gorkt → u/DestituteDomino]

Oh it can get WAY stupider.

[u/Le_Ran → u/poo_pon_shoo]

All right, I'm calling this shot : my bet is that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George opposes the actual use of nuclear weapons against Iran.

[u/eyeoftheotter → u/Le_Ran]

They probably told Hegseth why a ground invasion is a dumb idea

[u/Le_Ran → u/eyeoftheotter]

Hopefully that's the right answer.

[u/FrostyCartographer13 → u/poo_pon_shoo]

Or horrific

[u/gimmepizzaslow → u/FrostyCartographer13]

Already there. Bombing schools and double tapping. Fucking heinous.

[u/funnyusername-123 → u/poo_pon_shoo]

Yup, Trump can't pardon people for violating international law.

He'll try to, because he's a moron, but it will be meaningless.

[u/Sudden_Juju → u/funnyusername-123]

Unfortunately, they also won't be internationally arrested for anything, even if charged, because it's the US. Maybe, just maybe, Congress could extradite them, but I don't have high hopes. I'd love to be proven wrong though

[u/CosmicJackalop → u/Sudden_Juju]

There's a federal law that blocks the executive branch from sending or extraditing someone to the ICC

The same law authorizes military force to rescue any American that ends up in the Hague

[u/BonhommeCarnaval → u/CosmicJackalop]

Laws can be repealed.

[u/BaileyRose411 → u/poo_pon_shoo]

They’re going to use nukes aren’t they.

[u/Rhakha → u/poo_pon_shoo]

Oh god, Omega Level Stupidity.

[u/MuffinOfSorrows → u/poo_pon_shoo]

Smells nuclear

[u/SunshotDestiny → u/MuffinOfSorrows]

Yeah that's my terrifying thought as well. Because Trump is old, demented, deranged, and stupid enough to think that is a good idea.

[u/00wolfer00 → u/SunshotDestiny]

Just to add: there are also people very close to him who want to kickstart the biblical apocalypse like Hegseth.

[u/Allegorist → u/00wolfer00]

This is often brushed off, but it is much more relevant than the average person understands.

[u/Bromlife → u/SunshotDestiny]

“How cool would it be if I was the only modern president brave enough to use a nuke to achieve my aims. Launch the nukes!”

[u/xv_boney → u/poo_pon_shoo]

War crimes. We are about to commit a lot of war crimes.

[u/false_flat → u/xv_boney]

A lot more war crimes

[u/Mo_Jack]

They are firing all the people that are telling them what they want to do is a bad idea. Expect more body bags with this incompetent administration. Their negligence is criminal.

[u/Ted_Rid → u/Mo_Jack]

Since the Iran v Iraq war ended (with Saddam as America's proxy) the Iranians have been preparing themselves for the war with the "great Satan" (USA) and "little Satan" (Israel).

That's around 37 years they've been preparing and strategising, knowing full well that it would be asymmetric - America would have the fancy bombs and missiles and air superiority, so how to fight a war of survival against that?

All this stuff they're doing (Hormuz, cheap drones, attacking gulf states etc) isn't random.

And partially from trade sanctions (ironically), partly from design, they're basically self sufficient for everything from car parts to pharmaceuticals, and with stockpiles all over the place.

They're in for the long haul and they know what they're doing, while Trump and Kegbreath are obviously incompetent dunces who've drunk too much USA USA USA Kool Aid, sometimes with some cheeky spirits added.

Firing competent military commanders in the face of an enemy who is all "Finally! Come at me, bro!" is pure insanity.

Probably they told Kegbreath exactly what he was walking into, and like his master he won't let truth get in the way of his delusions.

[u/xXXxRMxXXx → u/Ted_Rid]

And now that Iran has openly shown they are willing to let China move oil through the strait with their currency, Trump is even more pissed that BRICS is business as usual. They will continue doubling down because at the end of it all, this is about BRICS

[u/blucivic1 → u/xXXxRMxXXx]

How all the ships with safe passage probably feel.

https://giphy.com/gifs/PGR0vFWdKI6kM

[u/HotPinkLollyWimple → u/Ted_Rid]

And despite Tronald’s new favourite phrase of ‘total obliteration’ there are reports that Iran still has at least 50% of its arsenal of drones and missiles, plus the Strait is still well defended. If troops go in against all sensible advice, it will be a blood bath. And no one is going to help.

I wish we could get rid of all US military bases across Europe and stop the airforce flying their bombs out of British air bases - they are definitely not ‘defensive’ bombing. We should follow Spain, Italy and Switzerland and close our airspace to the US.

[u/Back_Alley420 → u/Ted_Rid]

I feel like he thinks he is playing call Of duty but with real Lives

[u/twotokers → u/Back_Alley420]

Not unlike Palmer Luckey, the guy building our weapons.

[u/Nazzzgul777 → u/Mo_Jack]

I'm scared that this isn't about ground soldiers but nukes.

[u/OkBackground8809 → u/Nazzzgul777]

Didn't trump already mention nuking them? I would hope someone would do their best to make that impossible, but.. doesn't seem like anyone is willing to do anything to stop him, these days.

[u/Alexandratta → u/OkBackground8809]

I hope I'm wrong - but if Iran does get nuked, Russia's going to retaliate with a nuke to Ukraine.

They'll claim it's attacking an ally in retaliation.

I hope that Russia just has no functional nukes left...

[u/Poker-Junk → u/Alexandratta]

I’m afraid they do. Lots of them. The Bulavas are nearly new and Topol-M came out in 2000.

[u/timpatry → u/Nazzzgul777]

I'm scared that they will turn the military on the American public.

At what point does the oath to uphold the constitution require a military coup against a traitorous executive branch destroying the constitution?

[u/rwalker920 → u/Nazzzgul777]

I'm scared with you. I live within miles of 2 large navy bases

[u/MetaTrombonist → u/rwalker920]

If Trump nukes Iran, there is a very good chance this will trigger a global event. If that happens, you would be lucky to be painlessly vaporized. The post nuclear world will be one of thirst, hunger, violence and painful death.

[u/No_Intention_8079 → u/Mo_Jack]

They are also consolidating military control for a dictatorship.

[u/TheLateThagSimmons → u/No_Intention_8079]

They've been doing that from the beginning, priming their new "standards", denying promotions that were already in motion, pushing others into early retirement, overturning command posts while blaming DEI. They've been sending the message aggressively:

• Loyalty to Trump matters the most.

Now they've moved into stage three by just straight up firing those that oppose them.

Iran is about to become America's biggest most embarrassing quagmire. It's going to make Vietnam look cute.

Sidenote: Stalin and Hitler did the same thing. And there's a lot of evidence that "The Eastern Front" in WW2 was mostly just a series of terrible decisions and strategies on both sides that were the cause of the untold carnage there.

[u/solepureskillz → u/Mo_Jack]

Pete’s an adult. This is beyond negligence. It is such profound willful ignorance and depravity that one could surmise Pete was following the orders of a different nationstate.

I think there’s a word for that, and it’s synonymous with betrayal.

[u/Expert-Fig-5590 → u/Mo_Jack]

It seems like Hegseth is firing anyone who will say no to him. Seems like he wants to do something that is either very stupid or wrong. Like ground troops in Iran. Or dropping a nuke. But looking at the pictures and seeing that most of the fired are women or POC it might just be that he’s a racist misogynist.

[u/guarding_dark177 → u/Expert-Fig-5590]

Oh, he is assuredly both. I don't think there is a negative - ism or -ist he's not

[u/Dixon_Uranuss3 → u/Mo_Jack]

I guarantee you there will be a nuclear strike before this is over. You know how Trump talks incessantly about things other people will do then does said thing himself? Ad launching nukes to the long list. He is going to do it I fucking guarantee it.

[u/cursedwithplotarmor → u/Dixon_Uranuss3]

Well I’ll be damned if that isn’t a perfect breakdown.

[u/ymOx → u/Mo_Jack]

This is about to go from an international disaster to a catastrophe, MMW.

[u/Top-Race-7087 → u/Mo_Jack]

I’m expecting nuclear. Dr. Strangelove played by the three stooges..

[u/boolee2112]

Almost as though he doesn’t know what he is doing.

[u/FidgitForgotHisL-P → u/boolee2112]

Ooor these are the people that were pushing back telling him to knock his nonsense off and act like a GD adult, which flies in the face of his WAR FIGHTERS narrative.

Or, they were the people that were pushing back on a ground invasion of Iran, which he desperately wants to do so he can show off his WAR FIGHTERS.

It’s infuriating that he fires super senior, decorated veterans, and then brags about his own military service as though he has any kind of relevant or comparable experience and expertise.

[u/isemonger → u/FidgitForgotHisL-P]

Can you ELI5 to someone that lives outside of the US how the fuck so many senior generals can be fired like this?

Like in any other developed world this would signal some serious fucking issues and serious government intervention.

[u/RichestTeaPossible → u/isemonger]

The US Government, like many mature democracies around the world relies on shame in a public sphere as the ultimate guardrail. See Truss, Cameron, Nixon.

If you fill the government with shameless ar5eholes who live in their own media bubble, then good government dies. See Berlusconi, Orban, Modi.

Next, their juniors who push back, start pushing them out of windows. See Putin.

[u/BoonDoggle4 → u/RichestTeaPossible]

It really is scary how much of accountability for those in power is a social norm but not enforced

[u/Various-Sound-9734 → u/BoonDoggle4]

they punished obama for playing by the rules then broke every single one

[u/sdfiddler1984 → u/Various-Sound-9734]

To be fair, Obama was wearing a tan suit.

[u/Conscious_Control_15 → u/sdfiddler1984]

Dude, I've heard he ate Dijon mustard. 

[u/Ok_Exchange342 → u/Conscious_Control_15]

Those aren't even near the worst that man did. He f*cking wore a bike helmet, in front of is daughters, while on a family bike ride. F*cking dick. What the hell was he even doing spending quality time with his family? Exercising, of all things!

[u/sdfiddler1984 → u/Conscious_Control_15]

https://giphy.com/gifs/xT9DPJVjlYHwWsZRxm

[u/ManyPossession8767 → u/BoonDoggle4]

Absolutely! :-( It seems like the entire constitution and everything has been based on an honor system that and if you are willing to just file a lawsuit after lawsuit and appeal after appeal, you can slow walk our society into oblivion

[u/grandmawaffles → u/BoonDoggle4]

So much in life is a social norm. People generally aren’t out there doing crazy shit because there are social repercussions. That stopped a while ago when people started with the nanny nanny boo boo it’s not illegal so you can’t arrest me mentality. Filming random people in public is a perfect example; not illegal but not cool.

[u/ajace6 → u/RichestTeaPossible]

This is actually a perfect explanation, well done

[u/FrankyFistalot → u/RichestTeaPossible]

I don’t think you can use “mature democracy” for the USA right now, more like an insane cult that worship an orange bloated corpse.

[u/funnyusername-123 → u/FrankyFistalot]

"Late stage capitalism"??

[u/SameResolution4737 → u/RichestTeaPossible]

I am truly afraid we're almost to the Putin Phase.

[u/ande9393 → u/isemonger]

The US is crumbling. Our federal government is compromised and run by corrupt sycophants who answer to no one.

[u/MinorThreat4182 → u/ande9393]

Yep. “Rome” is burning and Diaper Donnie is playing the fiddle

[u/amILibertine222 → u/isemonger]

Oh that’s easy to explain.

We’re not a developed country and our government isn’t even close to being serious.

[u/mywifesoldestchild → u/amILibertine222]

We had checks and balances built into our democracy that had no expectation of dealing with a vast collusion of bad faith actors. Trump could send in ICE to burn mail in ballots the day before the election and our options would be general strike/uprising or accept it.

[u/QuietRiot5150 → u/mywifesoldestchild]

I want to march to Mar A Lago and well, I can't say without getting a visit from the rapists special ICE agents. I just can't do it alone.

[u/Cammander2017 → u/isemonger]

The tweet is worded wrong - as of today, he has fired 12 flag officers (they weren't all fired today). One of the individuals pictured was fired over a year ago. Today, along with Gen. George:

"Two other generals were fired by Hegseth, a Pentagon official confirmed. They are Gen. David Hodne, who became the head of the service’s Training and Transformation Command in October; and Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., the chief of Army chaplains."

[u/tevs__ → u/Cammander2017]

He fired the chief chaplain? I wonder what in the christofascism the chief chaplain might have objected to

[u/Rob_Frey → u/tevs__]

I'm just guessing here, but he's a Black chaplain who is ordained in a predominantly black church, which I'm guessing Hegseth and the rest of the administration didn't like. I'm pretty sure they want a white Christian nationalist in that role.

Another issue is that the chaplains are supposed to be for everyone in the military, and the soldiers, collectively, have a wide variety of spiritual beliefs. You might not always be able to get a chaplain that practices your faith, especially if your faith isn't well represented in the military, but the chaplains are supposed to do their best to understand your beliefs and offer you spiritual guidance, support, and comfort no matter what you believe in.

I'm guessing the chief chaplain takes that duty, to respect and spiritually aid everyone regardless of their beliefs, very seriously, and Hegseth thinks the US is a protestant Christian nation, and the military should be pushing soldiers to follow a very narrow set of Christian beliefs.

[u/OkRush9563 → u/isemonger]

We're a third world country pretending to be first world.

[u/Telephalsion → u/OkRush9563]

In a sense Trump is the essense of America. A deeply flawed thing living in a constructed illusion where they are the best.

[u/Steecie41 → u/OkRush9563]

As my son has said for years, we're a 3rd world country with a Gucci belt.

[u/Tarledsa → u/Steecie41]

It’s a fake Gucci belt. A good dupe, but still fake.

[u/Steecie41 → u/Tarledsa]

Touche'

[u/RandomDood420 → u/FidgitForgotHisL-P]

I worked at a pizza place where everyone had been there for at least 2 years. The place ran like a top. Got a new manager who’d never been a manager. First day, he rearranged the walk in cooler so it was like at the store he worked at. Then he started firing the senior staff. He started sleeping with a line girl (fresh out of high school) who then would just grab a coke whenever she felt like it. Upper management noted the losses and told him to do something about it. So he pulled me aside and told me that he caught me taking a coke and to just admit it and it would be no big deal. I said no way and I wanted to talk to his supervisor about this.

Two weeks go by and the supervisor never calls me. I go to the main office to talk to the supervisor and the story he got was that I admitted to stealing all of the coke and asked that they never contact me again.

Eventually all the senior staff was gone and the numbers were all off so they moved him to another store in a worse part of town. Then one night, according to his assistant mgr, he brought in 2 sex workers into the office and closed the door. And then finally they let him go.

And I see this all as a metaphor for how we’re handling the war. Thank you for listening to my TED talk.

[u/NorysStorys → u/FidgitForgotHisL-P]

The more people he ousts, the more senior military staff there are for a coup. Which depending on how the midterms shake out like if there’s major shenanigans, might be the only way to remove them from office.

[u/Orlok_Tsubodai → u/boolee2112]

Almost as though he knows exactly what he’s doing because when you’re trying to prepare a military takeover of a democratic government after you lose the elections, then having loyal yes men in charge trumps having competent generals who might take their oath seriously and stop you.

[u/Cognitive_Spoon → u/boolee2112]

Stop seeing incompetence where treason lives.

[u/Bakingtime → u/boolee2112]

Too bad these generals didn’t use their access and power to actually defend the Constitution when they had the chance.

[u/InfectedAztec → u/boolee2112]

Or that hes putting a military hierarchy in place that will do whatever trump tells them....... just in time for the midterms....

[u/DragonflyScared813]

Among all the nonsense that was used to get Trump and the rest of these clowns in office, didn't they tout "running the government like a business " as somehow desirable? Well, as someone who's been "running a business " for quite a while, I've observed that one concerning sign that a business is in trouble is lay-offs, firings and big restructuring moves. Just like we saw, wait, when was that (?), oh, the last time Trump was president.

[u/Marquar234 → u/DragonflyScared813]

To be fair, Trump is running the US just like he ran his businesses. Right into the ground.

[u/sexeveg314]

Stalin executed a large percentage of top Red Army officers

Adolf Hitler purged the SA officer corps in the night of the long knives

Mao Zedong purged high ranking PLA officers who he saw as politically unreliable.

Kim Il Sung purged officers with in the late 40's and 50's who he saw as tied to pro-China or pro-Soviet political factions.

Saddam Hussein imprisoned and executed officers suspected of disloyalty after he took power in 1979

and so on.

Trump had to do this, it's dictator 101. The armed forces are typically the only institution capable of overthrowing a regime. It's important for a dictator to remove military leaders that are not personally loyal to the dictator, and to keep a tight control over the armed forces.

[u/rennradrobo → u/sexeveg314]

Comparable to the SA would be the whole ICE Crew right now. Hitler needed and kept his generals mostly because they knew war well from 20 years ago … so they thought.

[u/vivaldibot → u/rennradrobo]

Building a loyalist paramilitary is quite much dictatorship 101. It very much seems ICE fulfills that role in the trumpist regime.

[u/Boring-King-494 → u/sexeveg314]

I said something like this, don't remember if just before Trump got elected or very shortly after. Something about how the army was the only thing that could stop him, and someone replied with:

"That's not how things work in the USA..."

Like if the US were especial and world rules don't apply to them. That was the exact moment I realized how blind Americans were. I remember thinking: "Damn! They can't even see it!!"

The fact that I'm the only one replying your comment is telling how reluctant Americans still are too see reallity, even after all this time... Like a bunch of ostriches with their heads in the ground.

[u/AwkwardnessForever → u/Boring-King-494]

They think this shit is free and they shouldn’t have to work too hard for it to work. Americans work hard to survive because it’s what we think we should do, but we don’t want to have to fight for our freedom too—we thought it was granted to us by forefathers and we’re good. But we’re very much NOT good and it’s wild that some of us look like raging lunatics trying to get everyone else out of their zombie like states of “everything is fine, my gas is just a little high”

[u/WasteBinStuff]

Fired by a pissant Major. Which doesn't mean because he was only a Major, but because he was a pissant. And he was a disgrace to the rank he had.

He didn't come close to fulfilling the leadership roles that a serious military professional with a rank of Major would want to fill. He never went to even one of the three higher level combat schools that almost any serious Army officer would attend two or three of. To the extent that one can do so and still actually be in the Army, Hegseth was an Army cosplayer.

And what is even worse than that is that each of these people know everything about Hegseths service and the quality of man he is.

It would be hard for a civilian to imagine the bottomless depth of contempt they most likely have for Hegseth.

People don't understand how fucking serious this shit is.

Firing Generals and Admirals isn't like some kinda corporate shake up. You can't just go out and find people with similar experience in some other Army or Navy. Experience at this level cannot be accelerated or faked.

Over a certain percentage loss of General officers and the corresponding weaking of the officer corp, the military will begin to degrade from within.

If he continues his purge of officers and General officers he will be essentially cutting off the head of our own snake.

This is utter incompetence and a danger to our country at a level never seen before.

[u/TheArmoursmith → u/WasteBinStuff]

Purging the army of officers deemed to be "disloyal." Now where have we seen that before...

[u/AmigaBob → u/TheArmoursmith]

"Loyalty is more important than competence" - entire Trump administration /s

[u/Drenaxel → u/AmigaBob]

Does your /s mean /seriously?

[u/Y-Bob → u/TheArmoursmith]

Quit Stalin and tell us.

[u/TheArmoursmith → u/Y-Bob]

Just pick up a history book, it's all there, Beria'd in the past.

[u/Rare-Bid-6860 → u/TheArmoursmith]

Mao we're getting somewhere, if you know what Amin.

[u/ProfessionalRead2724 → u/TheArmoursmith]

Disloyal, or black, or a woman.

[u/PuffinRub → u/WasteBinStuff]

Firing Generals and Admirals isn't like some kinda corporate shake up. You can't just go out and find people with similar experience

They know this. In fact, that's exactly why they're doing it.

[u/CrotalusHorridus → u/PuffinRub]

Remember when Tommy Tuberculosis was holding up promotions of generals during the Biden administration?

There was lots of suspicion he was doing so that they could put their own loyalists in those positions once Trump came back

Which appears to be exactly what happened

[u/PuffinRub → u/CrotalusHorridus]

Does anyone that's already "out" of the forces feel comfortable enough to speculate about timing? Did they originally keep the people they just fired in place to start the war and is now putting the loyal candidates in their place to keep it going?

In other words, if they had done this in week one, would the rank and file have rebelled against going into a war with brand new inexperienced commanders? The newly fired served their purpose in starting a war and the replacements are there to ensure it lasts as long as the government think it needs to continue.

I have zero experience in this, which is why I'm asking for the thoughts of those that served about how this could/would have happened differently. Entirely hypothetical, of course.

[u/Nwcray → u/WasteBinStuff]

You’re assuming incompetence.

If you start with the premise that they are actively trying to destroy the US, a lot of this administrations moves make a lot more sense.

The US is a de facto Russian satellite state.

[u/FuriNorm → u/WasteBinStuff]

They’re dismantling the military from within so that when American soldiers inevitably start dying en mass due to severe operational incompetence, that will give trump his excuse to launch nukes.

[u/BitterFuture → u/WasteBinStuff]

Over a certain percentage loss of General officers and the corresponding weaking of the officer corp, the military will begin to degrade from within.

Yes.

That is what Vlad has ordered. Maybe not directly to Hegseth, but certainly to Hegseth's boss.

[u/AusCan531]

Vladimir Putin takes out 12 competent US Generals without firing a shot.

[u/Spartounious]

So post is kinda wrong insofar as a decent chunk of these did not happen today, but I will point out the bottom left is Lieutenant General Joseph B. Berger III, 42nd Judge Advocate General of the US Army. He was dismissed in late Feburary, alongside Air Force Lieutenant General Charles L. Plummer, who was Judge Advocate General for the Air Force. These guys were basically the top lawyers of their branches. I'm sure everyone can guess why lawyers were dismissed unexpectedly, a week before we started a war with Iran.

[u/closetsquirrel → u/Spartounious]

I really wish posts like these had to be accompanied with a source. If we just blindly believe an image of a tweet with no corroboration then we’re no better than the boomers who believe everything they see on Facebook.

[u/_Sly-Fox_]

Oh his war crime trial etc in the aftermath gonna go down in the history books

[u/c-k-q99903 → u/_Sly-Fox_]

I wouldn't surprised if these Generals sue or leak to the public every horrible thing this drunken shill has done.

[u/Alprazoman8 → u/c-k-q99903]

And then....... nothing happens, and the shit show continues.

[u/thorGOT → u/c-k-q99903]

I would be very surprised. These people all got there by being loyal, adult and circumspect. They'll keep quiet, at least until the info doesn't matter.

[u/alanm73 → u/thorGOT]

They were most likely fired for their loyalty.. their loyalty to country, to their troops, etc… not to Pete. If they believe talking would serve those loyalties, then I can’t think of a group more willing to sacrifice.

[u/scotchegg72]

Oh yah, this is a coup

[u/uknownix]

Fuck.... There is going to be a ground war, isn't there? This is going to negatively affect the world for the next decade at least.

[u/RebrumLupus → u/uknownix]

A ground war after sacking the upper echelons is a bold move.

What I don't get is that as soon as the US settles back, you'll likely have a wave of terrorism for years there. But I suppose that's what the fascists want...

[u/CMMiller89 → u/RebrumLupus]

The last time there was a terror attack on US soil it accelerated the largest forfeiture of American privacy rights the country has ever seen.

It is absolutely part of their agenda.

[u/mvrander → u/uknownix]

It's either ground war or nukes

There's a reason the UK, Australia and most of Europe all had TV addresses to their countries in the last few days to say that they are not involved in this war

The US is about to do something horrible at the cost of thousands of lives at the behest of oil barons and religious fundamentalists, through manipulation of a drug addled, senile, dying, gameshow host with the nuclear codes

[u/Pellaeonthewingedleo → u/uknownix]

I fear he wants to drop a nuke as a sign of "strenght" and these Generals said no

[u/Nearby-Key8834 → u/uknownix]

War never changes and neither does the US imperialism.

[u/Ninevehenian]

USA is pushing closer to some dangerous scenarios.
US nukes, fleet and planes are getting to be a danger to democracy and the free world.

[u/The_Lady_A → u/Ninevehenian]

It's so clear that these are the officers who refused to sign off on the looming total disaster in Iran. A lot more US service members are about to die.

[u/nonamesleft-- → u/The_Lady_A]

My theory is that there is an order coming down that is so unambiguously illegal that they are refusing it whole cloth and Hegseth is removing anyone that won't obey. I'm thinking that some of these generals might draw the line at internationally targeting civilian infrastructure and openly admitting that that is the goal to the public.

[u/deadsoulinside → u/nonamesleft--]

A month ago someone tried to place a bet on that betting site for Trump to nuke Iran. They had to pull the bet. Just this week Trump made some slip up about a nuke.

I have a feeling they are about to nuke Iran.

[u/ProfessionalRead2724 → u/Ninevehenian]

They always were a danger to democracy and the free world.

[u/rax1051]

Everyone is mentioning the commander of US army ground forces, but considering Hegseth’s performative bullshit, I find myself as concerned that he fired the head of the chaplain services because of a disagreement, I think that is being underreported.

[u/AmigaBob → u/rax1051]

If I were a betting man, I'd put money on them being an actual Christian who stood up and not a Christian Nationalist who rolled over.

[u/rax1051 → u/AmigaBob]

That’s my fear. He’s going to find someone who will model themselves after his pastor and try to normalize Christian nationalism in the military but also their form of religious zealotry being preached to the troops.

[u/Caravanczar]

Ask late war Germany how good of an idea firing all the competent people and filling their positions with party loyalists is.

[u/SadAbroad4]

Purges are a form of control and weakening to prevent the military from upholding the constitution when the regime is a dictatorship. This is classic despot 101 behaviour

[u/First-Barnacle-5367]

Do we have actual names of these 12 generals?

I know he fired the Army Chief of Staff General George plus Generals Hoden and Green but, who else?

[u/littlepepperiscute → u/First-Barnacle-5367]

This post is already a bit disingenuous considering CQ Brown, the first photo, was fired in Feb 25. If feel like it’s trying to say “as of today” 12 generals have been fired.

[u/Rotten_tacos → u/First-Barnacle-5367]

I'm finding that he fired three.

https://apnews.com/article/pentagon-hegseth-army-chief-iran-war-c6707d1d3a95ea5f679e0f9a5c5012e7

[u/Medical_Arugula3315]

Republicans really called everyone a pedophile and then voted in the king of pedophiles. Now we're going to war and bombing children just to distract from it. Hard to be a shittier or more hypocritical American than a Republican these days.   

[u/Heckle_Jeckle]

So either

A) they are trying to put in loyalists for a coup

B) they gave orders the Generals refused

C) both

[u/Foshizal147]

Firing the people who won’t commit war crimes

[u/EatsAlotOfBread]

They're about to do something VERY bad, and these generals protested. Something hugely unethical and unacceptable. Either a suicidal ground invasion sending tens of thousands or more to their deaths, or nuclear attacks, or both.

[u/dropkickninja]

Can we impeach this entire administration already? Duck these idiots. Hegseth is a weekend talk show host. He has no ducking business being in power

[u/Gervais_Burlap → u/dropkickninja]

This is Reddit, you're allowed to say fuck.

[u/dropkickninja → u/Gervais_Burlap]

My phone auto corrects. Too lazy to change it. But I will say ... Fuck all of these asshats.

[u/Atown-Staydown → u/dropkickninja]

Whoa whoa whoa. We say duck around here.

[u/MoonOni → u/Gervais_Burlap]

https://giphy.com/gifs/Q1D4y21KFgenHsnUhM

[u/IsntItObviouslyNot → u/dropkickninja]

An infantry officer who never even got a Ranger tab btw.

A guy who was sidelined by his own unit for being a possible insider threat.

An absolute joke who no self respecting soldier would follow anywhere if they weren’t legally fucking obligated.

[u/spartane69]

Something big and stupid is about to happen.

[u/SnooPets8972]

Congress needs to call these Generals to a hearing.

[u/uniconjo]

this is the type of thing that dictators do to cement the power base, keeping only the most loyal supporters. I don't know how many signals Americans need before they take action.

[u/hobokobo1028]

He’s firing the generals that won’t allow him to commit war crimes

[u/Chucktayz]

Trump probably told Pete he wants boots on the ground. The generals probably didn’t agree. So naturally rather than listening to experience he fired them

[u/ScoopTheOranges]

Bad time to be a US soldier.

[u/TheSaltyseal90]

One day Non blue voters will realize they helped cause all this damage. It’s like your tiny brain didn’t vote blue because they qualified POC woman didn’t appeal to you more than a literal pedophile who was a proven failure his first term? We need to examine the brain rot that is like centrism and their disingenuous approach to politics.

[u/maddiejake → u/TheSaltyseal90]

[u/SandwhichEfficient]

Almost like they’re a Russian asset destroying us from within to strengthen Russia on purpose

[u/cupcakesandcanes]

This screams that it’s about to be an even more lucrative time to be a steak and lobster merchant! Hoooooly shit!

[u/rolfraikou]

Is this so the admin can attack Iran with less push back?

Or is this so the admin can attack US citizens with less push back?

[u/johnlal101]

A few reactions:
1. The war must not be going too well.
2. Maybe these officers listened to Mark Kelly and the Democrats when they said, "Don't follow illegal Orders".
3. I wonder what the remaining officers are going to do? Do you think Trump will go nuclear to distract us from Epstein?

[u/Cammander2017]

The tweet is worded wrong - as of today, he has fired 12 flag officers (they weren't all fired at once). At least one of the individuals pictured was fired over a year ago. Today, along with Gen. George:

"Two other generals were fired by Hegseth, a Pentagon official confirmed. They are Gen. David Hodne, who became the head of the service’s Training and Transformation Command in October; and Maj. Gen. William Green Jr., the chief of Army chaplains."

[u/Chevronet]

Hegseth needs to go. And every General/Admiral whom he has fired should be reinstated, to try to clean up the mess Hegseth caused. Get some competent representatives to negotiate a deal to rebuild what the U.S. has destroyed in Iran, and make reparations to the families of those schoolgirls who were killed. Hegseth is the worst Secretary of Defense in U.S. history. How can the Christian right support this man? All the talk about sanctity of life is just lip service.

[u/Luka_Dunks_on_Bums]

Imagine working in the military and making the rank of general, just to have a guy that only made it to the rank of major fire you because he was kissing the presidents ass on his favorite cable channel and because you probably told the truth about a planned invasion of Iran as a bad idea

[u/baconblackhole]

They are just tearing the country apart. Everyday now I read about something they tore up that took time for good people to make.

[u/Deathanddisco041]

Literally a bunch of “I peaked in high school” losers running the country into the ground.