For a country embroiled in a lengthy and escalating war with Iran, America has just provided a bizarre tribute to the rule of murderous mullahs in Tehran and Afghan Taliban’s thirst for bloody public executions. It is dreadful company to keep – and yet there are hard-boiled reasons why Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, should take this appalling risk with his country's reputation
Announcing the prospect of the execution by firing squad of Nidal Hasan, a military psychiatrist radicalised to Islamism who murdered 13 people at the Ford Hood army base in 2009 and maimed many more, Hegseth was clear that part of the appeal of this solution is that it will be livestreamed – a prospect which has discomfited even avid supporters of the death penalty, concerned about the brutalizing effect on those watching.
Army chiefs themselves were caught off guard. Vice President JD Vance also indicated that he would look away and cast doubt on whether the execution, slated for early December would go ahead in the form proposed by Hegseth – his rival for the post-Trump crown.
The plan to publicly gun down Hasan, wheel-chair bound as the consequence of injuries sustained as military police fired on him during his killing spree, has unleashed revulsion across and beyond the US. Less attention has been given to Hegseth’s rationale in provoking an internal conflict of Maga-world political manoeuvring.
A brash but often thin-skinned figure in his mid-forties, Hegseth is best understood as the man who wants to be seen to be Maga to the max – and the next generation of its leaders, with an eye to a run for the White House in 2028. And like many interactions of the Trump administration with core US institutions, he has also had a keen eye for pre-existing weak spots – like the tendency of diversity initiatives to end up in bureaucratic and legal processes which commanders found distracting or counter-productive.
It is, however, now a distraction from the bigger concern that the US’s fighting strength and technological capability is dangerously under-powered. The promise of amping up the American war machine, drained by the Iraq crisis and the humiliating retreat from Afghanistan, has not been delivered – Hegseth has, by common assent of those who know him around the Pentagon, little expert understanding of the vast institution he leads.
Instead, his relationship with Trump is based on his prominence as a Maga advocate on the most right-leaning parts of the Fox News programming inserted into the top job as a message carrier. He only just passed confirmation hearings after details of an erratic private life; allegations of sexual assault and episodes of excessive drinking were laid bare. In the end, the casting vote of the vice president, VD Vance sealed his appointment – but Hegseth’s tenure has always felt vulnerable.
Especially so, now that war in Iran and its failure to make headway, promoting Trump to pivot hard towards Moscow to secure a symbolic amount of diesel supplies from Vladimir Putin, can be laid at his door. The deadly attack on Riyadh airport as Houthi rebels take advantage of the chaos in the Straits of Hormuz also underlines the weaknesses of the US position.
Had the US remained focussed on its defensive role and protection of its allies in Saudi Arabia, the Houthi threat should have been manageable. Now it is out of control.
Hegseth speaks relatively little about the Gulf, other than in general terms, and a lot of about other things, such as refighting culture against “weirdos, beardoes” and “trannies” in the US miliary long after transgender people have been told they cannot serve in the military and exemptions for facial hair rules have been imposed already by the top brass.
It beats talking about real challenges the administration is struggling to grasp. The execution plan is a risk he has taken in the run up to punishing midterm elections – and it is no accident that Ford Hood, a Texas military base in a state which hangs the balance for Republicans and Democrats spy a potential victory, is at the centre of this story. Getting out the biggest chunk of “red meat” for voters would be seen by Trump as a success for Hegseth, if things go his way in November.
If, however, the President is left under pressure by losing control of Congress, a result even he will struggle to spin as a success, and Democrats gain more levers to investigate a wayward presidency, one senior military attaché to a European country tells me, “I would not want to be in Hegseth’s shoes in this scenario. Trump will look for someone to blame if he gets bad results there – and his is the number he will call.”
Trump surely has form in sacking those he previously anointed as close allies in the Maga movement – most recently a previous favourite Pam Bondi as the attorney general, when he feels that their problems have infected his popularity.
While Hegseth is still looking for space to define himself as one of a small group of candidates who could conceivably succeed Trump, that does not mean that he will make the final cut. He might just as easily take the rap for failures – that would essentially be a victory for his Vance, the Veep whose aim is to be the one and only crown prince.
A desperate gimmick shows how thin the Hegseth power prospectus really is. An unscrupulous showman prepared to drag the US military down to the level of its worse enemies around the globe is fighting for prominence at the expense of his country’s reputation. Yet Maga is a snakes and ladders world – and big gambles can have massive forfeits.
Anne McElvoy is executive editor at POLITICO and co-host of “Politics at Sam and Anne’s”
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