Target: Roger Wicker, Chair of U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services
Goal: Condemn threatening and potentially illegal directives given to America’s military brass.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth set the table for the latest turn in his controversial tenure when he decided that U.S. soldiers who slaughtered more than 300 defenseless Native American men, women, and children during the Wounded Knee Massacre (an event that would likely be considered a war crime today) should posthumously retain their medals of honor. After Hegseth and President Donald Trump summoned American military leaders stationed around the world for a meeting of a then-undisclosed nature, their disturbing vision for the future of America’s armed services came into crystal-clear view. This vision includes a rollback of soldiers’ rights and the implicit endorsement of war crimes.
The president set the tone for the meeting when he – seemingly miffed that he wasn’t met with thunderous applause from an audience that is supposed to be non-partisan – issued a veiled threat: “If you want to applaud, you can applaud. You can do what you want. If you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room. There goes your rank, and there goes your future.” The defense secretary (who has in the past made inflammatory remarks about women in the military) dug in on the gathered leaders by denouncing “fat generals,” “beardos,” and soldiers who failed to meet supposedly “male-level” fitness standards. The secretary went on to unilaterally threaten the jobs and livelihoods of individuals who had worked most of their lives to achieve their military rankings. He also rambled about so-called “wokeness” and “dudes in dresses” somehow destroying the military.
But perhaps the most sinister comments arose in regard to long-standing rules of engagement. The president suggested using cities he dislikes as “training grounds” for the military to hone their combat skills, and he even referred to residents of these cities as “the enemy within.” Then, the Secretary of Defense essentially called for American forces to ignore longstanding military customs (such as the Geneva Conventions) meant to prevent and punish war crimes. He referred to such safeguards as “stupid rules of engagement.” He went on to say, “We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement.”
Sign the petition below to demand the nation’s elected representatives speak out against this dangerous reshaping of America’s defense foundation.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Senator Wicker,
The reframing of the Department of Defense as the Department of War is an incredibly troubling precedent that must be stopped before it entrenches itself. The recent meeting convened for top generals has been referred to as more of a taxpayer-funded, grandstanding “partisan pep rally” that put its attendees in harm’s way than a serious evaluation of military strategy. The fact that America’s most respected military leaders had to sit in objective silence as they were demeaned, threatened, and instructed to ignore their training should have given every member of the armed services committee pause.
But the implicit directive to turn American forces loose on Americans and to summarily dismiss the Geneva Conventions and every other international rule of engagement should have been the moment this committee stood with a united “enough.” Speak up for the military men and women you claim to value and – more consequentially – speak out against the intended weaponization of the military against innocent civilians. If you remain silent, you are selling this country’s soul. Will the short-term gains be worth the enduring legacy of destruction?
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Beyzanur K.
