US Defence Chief Faces’ Worst Crisis’ in double scandal
The United States Secretary of Defense faces the“Worst crisis” of his career over the“Group chat” scandal in Yemen and the“Take no prisoners” scandal in the Caribbean, democrats and even some Republicans are calling for his removal.
As of July 7, Hegeses no intention to resign, the White House still expressed support for him. Analysts believe that if there are other problems, the white house or he will“Lose Patience.”.
Double scandal
The double scandal is engulfing heggseth, posing the“Gravest crisis” of his tenure and highlighting the dangerous indiscretions at the top of the Pentagon, the Guardian reported Tuesday.
On February 13, the Belgian United States Secretary of Defense Hodgeses spoke at a press conference in Brussels. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Peng Ziyang
The Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense filed a report on the“Group chat portal” on the 2nd, concluding that in March this year, Hegeses passed on details about the U.S. plan to launch an attack in Yemen through a group chat on the social networking app“Signal.” There could be a risk of leaking classified information and potentially jeopardizing the readiness of U. S. forces to operate. The report says Hegesseth used personal devices to conduct official business in violation of Department of Defense Policy.
In May, Waltz, then the President’s national security adviser, was sacked for his involvement in group chat.
The“Take no prisoners” scandal exposed by the U.S. media in November said that after the U.S. military launched a missile strike against a so-called“Drug ship” in the Caribbean Sea on September 2, continue to attack the two survivors on board. The ship eventually sank, killing 11 people. According to the source, hegeses gave the order to“Kill everyone on board”. This incident triggered a number of democratic and Republican members of Congress protested, they question the attack against the law, constitute a war crime.
U. S. military on the 4th of this month to do a small attack on Congress. The CNN, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that participants were told that Hegeses made it clear before the operation began that the mission was a“Lethal” strike; Frank Bradley, the head of the US Special Operations Command, understood that the objective was to sink the ship and kill everyone, so he ordered a follow-on strike. In the end, the U. S. launched a total of 4 attacks on the ship, the ship sank, all personnel were killed.
Adam Smith, a member of the House Armed Services Committee who attended the briefing, said the survivors were“Unarmed, that’s for sure.”.
Three strikes?
At present, around“Leave no one alive” scandal controversy and investigation is still continuing.
A Democratic caucus representing 116 members of the House of Representatives issued a statement criticizing hegesseth as“Unqualified, reckless and a threat to the lives of U.S. servicemen and women,” The Guardian reported Monday.
Democratic Senator Patty Murray is calling for Hercules’ resignation. Murry said Heggseth was“Clearly not up to the job” of Defence Secretary.
In an interview with the CNN, Republican Congressman Don Bacon said he had“Seen enough” to conclude that Hegesseth should not run the Pentagon.
Rand Paul, a republican senator, said hegesseth“Either lied or was incompetent and had no idea” about September 2.
Mark kansian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says Hegesseth is in a tough position and has lost some Republican support. If there is another scandal, “The White House could lose patience”.
Jim Townsend, a former US defence official, said Hegeses’ performance was a“Headache” for President Donald Trump. Townsend agrees that if trouble ensues, Hegesseth may have to“Move on”.
Source: Xinhua News Agency (Chen Lixi)