Pentagon erupts over classified leak about Iran war dissent

Echo report published in The Hill by Jarod Gans

(Question❓ Has Iran surrendered yet❓)

The Pentagon is seething over a Washington Post report that top military leaders recently warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth against extending large-scale Iran war operations.

People familiar with a classified assessment prepared for Hegseth told the Post that several combatant commanders have advised the Defense chief that prolonging operations against Iran is unsustainable and risks weakening the U.S.’s ability to address threats elsewhere, including on U.S. soil.

The warnings appear in the August 14 edition of the Secretary of Defense Orders Book (SDOB), detailed by the heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and the four-star commanders overseeing U.S. operations throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America, the Post reported Sunday.

Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell lambasted the report in a post on the social platform X.

“Publishing highly classified assessments from the Secretary’s orders book is a crime. It’s a betrayal of the force,” he said. “And much of what they’re publishing is inaccurate.”

Parnell said the Pentagon wants “candid” advice and disagreements are common.  “Hegseth sees them constantly (Maine Writer....but does he actually READ them❓). That’s how you run a real military. We are in great shape around the world.🤥🤥 🙄This story isn’t about readiness,” he said, alleging it is about “TDS,” an acronym that Trump and his allies often use to mean “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” (Maine Writer....duh❓And your point is...😕❓)

Washington Post military affairs reporter Dan Lamothe defended his colleagues’ work with a response to Parnell.

“Fact check: Independent journalism is not a crime,” he said. “It’s also especially important at a time when government officials are withholding key details and concerns about a war being fought on behalf of the American people with their taxpayer dollars.”

The August 14 SDOB directs some U.S. forces currently deployed in the Middle East to remain through September and others into 2027, those familiar with the document told the Post.

The heads of U.S. European, Pacific and Southern Commands, along with the Navy’s top admiral, responded with a “non-concur” — signaling their disagreement with Hegseth’s order to extend their forces, the Post reported.

The report comes as the U.S. and Iran traded fire for the first time in almost a month. The war, now in its sixth month, has drained the Navy’s budget and significantly depleted U.S. stockpiles of missile interceptors and long-range precision missals. 

Throughout the conflict, U.S. ships, personnel, aircraft and equipment have been redirected from various parts of the world to the Middle East. The sources told the Post that this has limited the military’s ability to conduct missions and ensure proper training.

In addition to Parnell, other accounts on X with links to the Pentagon weighed in to slam the Post for reporting on classified information.

(So what❓)

The account DataRepublican, which is run by Utah software engineer Jennica Pounds, a special government employee at the Defense Department, responded to Lamothe. 

Donald Trump launched America into an illegal war with Iran and now the world is immersed living in "The Scream" painting by Poster

(Editor’s note: This editorial repeats profanity. We quote it verbatim because of the significance of the source.)

Echo opinion essay published by the Sun Sentinel's Editorial Board.

"The Scream" by Edward Munich Poster

Donald Trump talks like a genocidal maniac

Barry R McCaffrey  General, USA, Ret., "This is a continuing story of a great nation fallen mesmerized into the hands of a charlatan. We hope there are growing signs of revulsion by the American people. Bizarre. Madness. Who are these people standing with this man." 

Sun Sentinel opinion:  Never in our history has a leader made such a ghastly threat like Donald Trump did when he warned that 'a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.'

Fortunately, he backed down. Sudden wisdom, or cold feet❓

To some, it was just another TACO Tuesday (Trump Always Chickens Out). It’s preferable to think that he got wisdom rather than cold feet. Regardless, it was the right choice.

But still, it’s only an "on again off again" frail truce with Iran, a 14-day pause on what would have become — and might yet be — a monstrous war crime and an indelible stain on our nation.

It is encouraging that the Trump administration and Iran both claim victory, which would be an excuse to call off the war.

There are unconfirmed reports that some U.S. commanders were refusing to carry out genocidal orders, and that would be good news, too. (Illegal orders❗)

But the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Donald Trump seems to believe he can call on the magician 🔮🙄in Ali Babba to "open Sesame" the Strait of Hormuz.  Even following a surprise announcement by Donald Trump, who claimed the Strait of Hormuz was fully opened, and the stock market subsequently closed the April 17 week in the green, his fake proclamation fell apart by Saturday April 18, when Iran announced control over the Strait.)

Congress must intervene❗

Congress must use the respite to take Trump in hand, with a war powers resolution and a serious investigation of his mental fitness. Regardless of whether impeachment is possible, it needs to be pursued.

The nation and the world have long since become accustomed to Trump’s loutish behavior, coarse vocabulary and disrespect for the dignity of his office and America’s reputation.

But his increasingly erratic conduct of late commands the attention of Congress, because it bears unmistakable signs of worsening mental decay in someone who can singlehandedly order the use of nuclear weapons.

A telling symptoms of dementia is a loss of inhibition. Until now, presidents appreciated the power of their words, and whatever their private thoughts, none ever spoke so venomously as Trump at war.

No president has disgraced our nation with such vulgarity as his social media post on the Christian faith’s holiest day, Easter Sunday:

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”

Whether our nation is at the whims of a madman is a question Congress should pursue.

Israel’s hidden role

The other is the extent to which Trump was led into the crisis by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who craved U.S. support for another war with Iran.

In a remarkable exposé, the New York Times described in detail how Trump secretly received Netanyahu at the White House on Feb. 11, for a hard sell on what a war might accomplish.

Netanyahu and his team framed a “near-certain victory,” (lunacy❗) the Times said. “Iran’s ballistic missile program could be destroyed in a few weeks. The regime would be so weakened that it could not choke off the Strait of Hormuz, and the likelihood that Iran would land blows against U.S. interests in neighboring countries was assessed as minimal.”

According to the Times, CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Trump some of it was “farcical” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also his national security adviser, called it “bullshit,” but Trump eventually wore down all the internal doubters except for Vice President JD Vance. Pete Hegseth, his self-styled secretary of war, was all for it.

Despite the fake truce that took effect, Hegseth threatened ground operations to seize Iran’s enriched uranium. 

So much for certain victory. None of it happened.

Trump’s outbursts bespoke the frustration of a thoroughly incompetent ruler who began a war with no plan for how to conduct or conclude it and was unprepared for Iran’s resistance.

War: What is it good for❓

Trump's illegal war's main accomplishments are to inflate energy prices, depress the stock market, destabilize the world’s economy, betray Ukraine by waiving sanctions against Russia’s oil, replace one fanatic Iranian ayatollah with another, and harden Iran’s dictatorship and nuclear ambitions.

Congress should also scrutinize how Hegseth, a man far out of his depth, has been demoralizing and destroying the Department of Defense, purging it of anyone who might question illegal orders or represent diversity. His purge of senior officers who are Black or female has been conspicuous.

His dismissal of General Randy George, the Army’s chief of staff early in his term, along with two subordinates, was without precedent. George reportedly opposed the attack on Iran.

Republican senators praised George for his service, but they failed to condemn Hegseth.

In his farewell letter to his troops, George said they deserve “leaders of character.”

So do we all.

P.S. Maine Writer question❓  Has Iran surrendered yet❓

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant.