Few people outside of President Trump's closest aides expected the appointment of a Fox News host with an alcohol problem to be a solid performer in the position of Secretary of Defense of the richest and most powerful nation on earth. Pete Hegseth has met most people's expectations.
It's uncertain whether he still has an alcohol problem, although he clearly has an anger problem, and is modelling himself on his idol, Donald Trump, in the way he treats the national and international news media (his latest outburst being an example). When he appears with Trump, he gives the impression of an insecure dog, desperate for his master's approval. Elon Musk - another Trump experiment doomed to failure from the get go - didn't last long, and it's hard to see Trump being able to stand Hegseth for much longer. My guess is he will be a convenient scapegoat to be sacrificed for the next major gaffe by the administration.
But you can't fault the man for effort and for throwing himself into his role with gay abandon. In defence of Mr. Trump's bombing raid on Iran (in which Iran's entire nuclear program was obliterated - obliterated, I tell you! - or possibly not), Hegseth came out with one of the howlers of the entire Iran débacle:
"President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history."
OK, so not the Battle of Waterloo, not the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, not the D Day landings in Normandy, not the US bombing raids over North Vietmam, not the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, not even Mossad's coordinated exploding pager operation of last year. No, the most complex and secretive military operation ever, in the view of Mr. Pete Hegseth was a single bombing run through a non-existent Iranian air defence, which was broadly warned of and broadcast in advance.
Poetic license? Not really. Hegseth is perhaps the least poetic politician I can think of. An excess of nationalistic fervour in the heat of the moment? Well, probably.
But to attribute the directing of this awesome military achievement to Donald Trump is rich indeed. The US military probably bristled a bit when they heard Hegseth say this, having had such a plan designed and rehearsed for many months, probably years. Even I have seen it discussed and described in the media for some weeks before the event. Trump's contribution may have amounted to one word - "Go!" - or possibly two or three, in his usual eloquent and loquacious style.
The biggest stupidest lie by a Secretary of Defence in American history? Ah, now we might be getting close.
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