Over the weekend, it transpired that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had in a July 2 memo unilaterally stopped shipments of some weapons to Ukraine. This in the midst of the largest Russian offensive since Vlad Putin’s invasion in 2022 and a Ukrainian counter-offensive that has included missile and drone strikes against military targets deep in the Russian heartland.
When revealed, the excuse for the halt was that U.S. stocks of certain weapons were critically low and needed to be tallied. This was said to be part of a larger “capability” study. According to the Daily Beast, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said at a July 2 briefing, “We can’t give weapons to everybody all around the world. Part of our job is to give the president a framework that he can use to evaluate how many munitions we have and where we’re sending them. And that review process is happening right now and is ongoing.”
This claim was made despite Hegseth having in hand before he wrote his memo a Pentagon review saying munitions stockpiles had not fallen below critical thresholds necessitating a cutback on shipments to Ukraine.
As Putin was hitting Ukraine in a massive attack hours after a July 3 phone call with the U.S. president that Trump characterized as no “progress made with him at all,” Rep. Adam Smith, the leading Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, told NBC News, "We are not at any lower point, stockpile-wise, than we’ve been in the three-and-a-half years of the Ukraine conflict." His staff, he said, had “seen the numbers.” He characterized Hegseth’s explanation for the halt as “disingenuous.” That’s accurate, but dishonest, deceptive, devious, sly, shifty, and sneaky also apply.
Three congressional aides and an unnamed U.S. official told NBC the secretary had taken the action on his own. Twice before, since February, Hegseth had stopped weapons shipments to Ukraine but was swiftly reversed. For his part, contradicting both the Pentagon and reporting, Trump denied the U.S. had paused shipments on July 3. "We haven't. We're giving weapons."
My-oh-my ... who, who, who to believe?
Reportedly included in the shipment that was — [you choose] 1) halted, or 2) not halted — were dozens of Patriot interceptors, Hellfire missiles, 155mm artillery rounds, Stingers, AIM air-to-air missiles, and grenade launchers.
I’m not given to conspiracy theories, but when a subordinate does something he supposedly wasn’t supposed to do on his own for the third time in four months, you have to consider that perhaps he wasn’t doing something on his own. After all, our Outlaw Prez has hardly been in Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s corner. Remind me how long it’s been since he was saying the Ukrainian president started the invasion of his own country. Maybe Trump thinks dangling the possibility of a weapons cut-off or long delay at a critical moment will help him extract 10 more percentage points of advantage for the U.S. in the minerals deal signed with Ukraine in April.
Or maybe Hegseth really is a loose cannon.
Even some Republicans have registered concern. But we haven’t heard squat from the Senate Armed Services Committee whose Republican members all recommended Hegseth be approved for the nation’s second or third most important Cabinet post. Committee Democrats all gave him a resounding no.
Like all the committee’s members, these Republicans are supposed to be our guardians. They’re supposed to gain the expertise over the years to watchdog the Pentagon and work diligently to ensure our military is well led and our national security is secured. They are supposed to have good judgment about matters of defense, matters of national protection and survival. And yet they picked this guy they knew was not up to the job, emotionally or by experience.
The booby prize goes to committee Chairman Roger Wicker. He has 28 years of military service, including 24 in the Air Force Reserve. He has been on the committee for 15 years. He not only knew about Hegseth’s fatal-to-the-job inadequacies, he also publicly raised some “concerns” weeks before the vote. He could have been the crucial fourth Republican vote against Hegseth’s confirmation. Maybe he could have talked Trump into giving Hegseth a job as Ambassador to the Manosphere.
Knowing what he knew, Wicker nevertheless wound up praising the guy. Other Republicans on the committee with military service who did likewise are Dan Sullivan, Joni Ernst, Rick Scott, Tom Cotton, and Tim Sheehy. Did they really think this guy was even close to having the temperament and experience for the job? Or did they just tremble and fold before Dear Leader the way they have done on so many other matters, including the Kid Killer Bill they just helped deliver to the man’s desk?
Maybe Hegseth did call this halt on his own without telling the boss. If so, did he get a post-memo scolding in the Oval Office like the one Zelenskyy got? Or was there maybe a wink-wink, nudge-nudge between them as a little more chaos and uncertainty was added to Ukraine’s existential struggle?
Maybe if Sen. Wicker were really on the job at the committee, he could call Hegseth in for some under-oath questions such as: “Did the president tell you to halt weapons shipments to Ukraine?” “Did he chew you out the last two times you did that?” Of course, Hegseth is never so combative, so into being the warrior's warrior, as when he’s dodging questions from Congress.
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