The Defense Secretary's Dreadful Defense of ICE

"Hegseth, who grew up north of Minneapolis, took to social media in the hours after masked immigration agents shot the ICU nurse with a stark calculation: "ICE > MN." "We have your back 100%. You are SAVING the country," the Pentagon chief told immigration agents in an X post. "Shame on the leadership of Minnesota-and the lunatics in the street.""

"He and fellow Cabinet members? The 1.3 million service members he commands? The troops he put on standby for potential deployment to Minneapolis? He hasn't said. But if there was any doubt about how Hegseth would wield military might if troops were sent to check unrest or dissent in U.S. cities, there's your answer."

"Hegseth, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a National Guardsman before becoming a Fox News weekend host, has repeatedly blamed "woke" and "weak" military leaders for imposing overly restrictive rules of engagement that, he believes, cost U.S. lives and prolonged America's "forever" wars. Since taking office, Hegseth has been an ardent supporter of Donald Trump's expanded use of troops in U.S. cities and his aggressive immigration operations."

Pete Hegseth publicly praised aggressive immigration agents and condemned Minnesota leadership and protesters, posting statements such as "ICE > MN" and "We have your back 100%. You are SAVING the country." He did not clarify who he meant by "we." Hegseth served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a National Guardsman and later became a Fox News weekend host. He criticizes "woke" and "weak" military leadership and supports expanded use of troops in U.S. cities and forceful immigration operations. He placed troops on prepare-to-deploy orders during the Minneapolis surge and framed support for ICE as overriding his jurisdictional limits.

Read at The Atlantic