Retired Gen. George Casey, commander of U.S. and multinational forces in Iraq from 2004 to 2007 under Republican President George W. Bush, called the firings “extremely destabilizing.” He also noted that the Trump administration can change Pentagon policy without changing personnel, but added, that what happened is “”within the president’s prerogative.”.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is defending President Donald Trump 's firing of the nation's senior military officer and a wave of dismals at the Pentagon, insisting that they weren't unusual despite accusations that the new administration is injecting politics into the military.
He called Brown “honorable" but said he is “not the right man for the moment.” Of Caine, he said that Trump “respects leaders who untie the hands of war fighters in a very dangerous world.”.
Hegseth said Friday's dismissals affected six three- and four-star generals and were “a reflection of the president wanting the right people around him to execute the national security approach we want to take.”.
Still, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee told ABC that the firings were “completely unjustified” and that “apparently, what Trump and Hegseth are trying to do is to politicize the Department of Defense.”.
