By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
Pete Hegseth was in Iraq when I was there — Fallujah was raging 15 kilometers away while I was experiencing the comparative safety of being on Radwaniyah, an intel base that was the former haunt of Uday Hussein. Pete had the courage to tell a subcommittee that was hellbent on bashing soldiers the truth—that when Fallujah II was being fought (because our soldiers were not allowed to finish the job the first time) the residents of Fallujah welcomed them into their homes with open arms and said, “Where have you been?” That narrative was certainly consistent with what I understood to be true. However, I wasn’t there kicking in doors, and I am dependent on the testimony of those who were.
This moves me to the question of the hour: Should this brilliant warrior, a Princeton graduate, a Harvard graduate, (although he mailed his Harvard diploma back) a man who is on his third marriage, a best- selling author, and TV host be allowed to be Secretary of Defense? I have waffled on this one, and my answer has come back to a yes. That being said, I understand why you may disagree.
Pete has been accused of all kinds of things—running two charities financially into the ground, sexual misconduct, alcoholism, Islamophobia, having the wrong tattoo, and if we had not first experienced the smear campaign conducted in order to prevent the confirmation of United States Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, I would have been far more inclined to believe that if someone was being accused, it had to be true, right? I mean, no one would say a complete lie with the expectation of getting away with it, would they? They would.
Let’s talk about Pete’s tattoo by talking about a different tattoo, that of the Confederate flag. There are those who “get inked” with that particular symbol that to some represents autonomy and independence, and to others, only racism. I never understood that before I moved here, but it is inarguable. If you have the stars and bars on your forearm, you run the risk of being put in a philosophical box. So it is with the Jerusalem Cross, which is sported by Mr. Hegseth. To some it is a symbol of pure, historic Christianity, and to others, Islamophobia.
Has Pete Hegseth ever been drunk? Yes, by his own admission. So have many, many soldiers. Does that mean he is an alcoholic and unfit to be Secretary of Defense? Not necessarily. He has never had anyone tell him that he needs to seek treatment. Does war break up marriages? It does. Do we believe Pete when he says that he has been changed greatly from the man he was ten years ago by what he calls “the two J’s?” (By that he means Jesus and his wife, Jenny.) That is something you are going to have to decide.
According to Pete, President-elect Trump is still solidly behind his nominee, and wants him as Sec-Def. This is because he believes that Pete will protect our soldiers due to the fact that he has experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly of being a warrior. If Pete is guilty of the things that are being alleged, and hasn’t repented or changed, then I don’t want him. However, if he is being smeared because people are afraid that he will restore the military to itself, then I most certainly do. How about you?
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
December 6, 2024
