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PETE HEGSETH IS A TERRIBLE CHOICE TO HEAD THE PENTAGON  
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Veterans for Peace
December 16, 2024
Popular Resistance
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_ Veterans For Peace is calling on US Senators to vote NO on Pete
Hegseth for US Defense Secretary, should President-elect nominate him.
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Pete Hegseth was accused by a woman of rape n 2017, although no
charges were brought., Instagram

 

Veterans For Peace is astounded that someone with the track record of
Pete Hegseth would seriously be considered for the critically
important role of US Secretary of Defense. His dubious and
questionable qualifications are far overshadowed by the many reasons
that should disqualify him. These include a well-documented record of
misogyny, sexual assault, white supremacy, Islamophobia, financial
malfeasance, alcoholism, and opposition to VA healthcare. Are these
the qualities we want in our Secretary of Defense?

Misogyny

Hegseth’s long-running abusive behavior toward women – even
decried by his own mother
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– should be more than enough to disqualify him.  His stated
intention to reverse progress for women and gays in the military was
only reversed by him in recent days, after pressure from key women
Senators whose votes he needs if he is to be confirmed as Defense
Secretary.  Can he be trusted to defend the rights of women and
LGBTQ+ people in the military? Would he challenge the rampant sexual
abuse within the military today?

White Supremacy / Islamophobia

Pete Hegseth sports tattoos on his body that are associated with White
Supremacy.  In January 2021, Hegseth was one of 12 national guardsmen
flagged as potential insider threats and removed from a group
providing security for the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden,
after a fellow Guard member reported he had a tattoo on his biceps
reading “Deus Vult [[link removed]],” a
phrase associated with the Crusades and, in the 21st century, with
white supremacists. Hegseth has said that his National Guard superiors
removed him because of his Jerusalem Cross tattoo, a Christian
symbol which they determined was connected to extremism.

Post Traumatic Stress / Alcoholism

Pete Hegseth’s bouts with binge drinking and public drunkenness at
formal organizational events have been widely reported. On one such
occasion, he was heard shouting “Kill All Muslims.”  Was it the
alcohol talking?  Islamophobia?  Or both? As a national guardsman,
Hegseth served at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq and Afghanistan. Veterans
For Peace recognizes that many veterans who experience Post Traumatic
Stress, Traumatic Brain Injury, or Moral Injury have difficulty
returning to civilian life, and have problems with alcohol and
antisocial behavior. They need professional help, not the additional
stress associated with US war-making.

A Voice of Restraint? Or Nuclear War?

Pete Hegseth should not be making critical defense decisions for the
largest military in the world, particularly at this dangerous moment
of superpower confrontation and nuclear brinksmanship. The very
existence of human civilization is imperiled. Would Pete Hegseth be
able to provide the president with wise counsel regarding ending the
war in Ukraine? Could he stop sending US weapons to fuel the horrific
genocide in Gaza? Would he put a brake on the Neocon drive for wars
against China and Iran? Could he be a responsible check on a
president’s decision to use nuclear weapons?  We fear that the
answer to these questions is No.

Financial Mismanagement

Pete Hegseth has a track record of “failing upward.” He has been
demoted and forced to resign from several veterans organization and
PAC’s, after failing to raise funds, and spending as much as half of
the organizations’ funds on Christmas parties for families and
friends. Arguably, the stupendous and ever-growing Pentagon budget,
which just failed its 7th audit in a row
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and for which there is remarkably little accountability, might be the
perfect piggy bank for Pete Hegseth.

Hegseth Threatens VA Healthcare

Of particular concern to many veterans is Hegseth’s opposition to VA
healthcare.
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He supports “outsourcing” – or privatizing VA healthcare – a
concerted goal of the Koch brothers-funded _Concerned Veterans of
America, _which Hegseth headed up from 2013-16.  For all its
shortcomings, the Veterans Administration continues to provide
excellent healthcare to millions of veterans, who rely on it and
greatly appreciate it.  Undermining, defunding and privatizing
healthcare is an attack on all veterans, as well as an attack on the
healthcare system, for which the VA provides one of the very best
models. Senators who are interviewing Pete Hegseth should ask him why
he would dismantle VA healthcare in favor of the failing private
healthcare model.

Poll: Pete Hegseth should not be Secretary of Defense

Veterans For Peace’s opposition to confirming Pete Hegseth as US
Defense Secretary is shared by most Americans, only 20% of whom
approve
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according to a recent poll.  Will our Senators get the message?  We
should make sure that they do.

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Veterans For Peace [[link removed]] is dedicated to
restraining the US government from intervening in the internal affairs
of other nations, and calls on the US to end its complicity in the
Gaza genocide by stopping the flow of US weapons to Israel.

* Pete Hegseth
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