Strikes on alleged smugglers and Yemen attack via messaging app have fuelled opposition to Hegseth
\n WASHINGTON
\nUS Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is under mounting pressure from scandals surrounding strikes on alleged drug boats and his use of Signal to discuss sensitive military information, sparking growing criticism and calls for him to quit.
\nHegseth \u2014 a former Army National Guard major who went from Fox News co-host to leader of the world\u2019s most powerful military \u2014 is no stranger to controversy and was only narrowly confirmed by the Senate earlier this year.
\nThe strikes on alleged narcotics smugglers \u2014 especially an incident in which survivors of an initial attack were subsequently killed \u2014 and his use of commercial messaging app Signal to talk about an impending operation in Yemen, have fuelled further opposition to Hegseth.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s in another difficult position. In fact, his two big problems have now merged,\u201d said Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine colonel and senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
\n\u201cBut he seems to retain [US President Donald] Trump\u2019s confidence, even as he\u2019s lost support of some Republicans. So I don\u2019t think he\u2019s in… [a] fatal situation,\u201d Cancian said.
\nJim Townsend, former deputy assistant secretary of defence for European and Nato policy during the Obama administration, said Hegseth is \u201con thin ice\u201d and that Trump has \u201ca secretary of defence that is giving him lots of headaches\u201d.
\nTownsend agreed that Hegseth is unlikely to be fired immediately, but said if something happens that \u201creally riles up the Republican Party\u201d or embarrasses Trump\u2019s Make America Great Again movement, \u201cthey\u2019ll probably try to move him somewhere else.\u201d
\nYemen strikes
\nHegseth came under fire during his confirmation process over alleged financial mismanagement at veterans\u2019 nonprofits where he previously worked, reports of excessive drinking, and allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in California.
\nHis time as secretary of defence has also been marred by scandals, including one related to strikes on Yemen that were launched in mid-March.
\nThe Atlantic magazine revealed that its editor-in-chief had been inadvertently included in a Signal chat in which officials, including Hegseth, discussed the upcoming operation.
\nThe Pentagon chief sent messages on the timing of strikes hours before they happened and information on aircraft and missiles involved.
\nThe incident sparked an investigation by the Pentagon\u2019s independent inspector general\u2019s office, which concluded in a report released Thursday that Hegseth\u2019s actions could have resulted in \u201cpotential harm to US pilots.\u201d
\nTargeting alleged drug boats
\nAnother controversy stemmed from a September 2 attack on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Pacific. An initial strike left survivors, with a follow-up attack killing those two people.
\nHegseth and the White House have repeatedly said the decision for the second strike was made by the operational commander, Admiral Frank Bradley, rather than the defence secretary.
\nLawmakers attended a classified briefing on Capitol Hill this week in which they were shown extended video footage of the incident \u2014 only a brief part of which has been publicly released \u2014 but there are conflicting views about whether the follow-up strikes were justified.
\nThe footage showed \u201cthe United States military attacking shipwrecked sailors \u2014 bad guys, bad guys \u2014 but attacking shipwrecked sailors,\u201d said Democratic Representative Jim Himes.
\nRepublican Senator Tom Cotton \u2014 another briefing attendee \u2014 described all four strikes on the boat as \u201centirely lawful and needful,\u201d and said the survivors were attempting to flip the drug-laden vessel back over and \u201cstay in the fight\u201d.
\nHegseth has faced calls from some Democratic lawmakers for his resignation or firing over the follow-up strikes and the Signal controversy, but his job seems safe for the moment.
\nCancian, however, said that another scandal could push the Trump administration to remove him as defence secretary. \u201cIf there\u2019s maybe another one after this…the White House might lose its patience,\u201d he said, describing the controversies that have already occurred as \u201cvery embarrassing\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Strikes on alleged smugglers and Yemen attack via messaging app have fuelled opposition to Hegseth WASHINGTON US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is under mounting pressure from scandals surrounding strikes on alleged drug boats and his use of Signal to discuss sensitive military information, sparking growing criticism and calls for him to quit. Hegseth \u2014 a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-518752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n