WP: Purge Of Generals At Pentagon Linked To Preparations For Ground Operation In Iran

It is not endorsed by all military officers and experts.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth has retired two dozen top U.S. officers, including U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, The Washington Post reported. The massive personnel purge comes amid a war with Iran and preparations for a possible ground operation - units of the 82nd Airborne Division are deployed to the Middle East. The latter is not approved by all military and experts. For example, the founder of the American PMC Blackwater Eric Prince spoke out against a ground operation in Iran and called it risky.

61-year-old George is a career officer and a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. He was considered one of the most likely candidates to be fired and was a senior aide to former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before being named Army chief of staff in 2023. But George managed to keep his post for a long time.

Two other generals were removed at the same time: the head of the Army Training and Transformation Command, David Hodne, and the Army's chief chaplain, William Green Jr.. Hegseth has also snubbed or blocked the promotions of several other high-ranking officers, according to The Washington Post. The Pentagon chief has in recent years sought to change the way military chaplains work and has regularly emphasized the importance of Christianity in the military.

Hegseth also shook up the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon's chief deliberative body. Of the old staff, only Marine Corps Commandant Eric Smith and Space Force chief B. Chance Saltzman. Early last year, Trump's team resigned Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown Jr, Navy Chief Lisa Franchetti, Coast Guard Commander Linda Fagan and Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff James Slife. Hegseth also demanded the early resignation of Air Force Chief of Staff David Olvin.

The Washington Post notes that Hegseth has long criticized the military leadership for a lack of loyalty to Donald Trump. The Trump administration's new policies have also interfered with the layoffs - women and minorities are disproportionately among those fired.

The military's Operation Epic Fury has been underway for five weeks, but the pressure on Trump has only intensified as the campaign costs the US billions of dollars daily, has driven up fuel prices and remains unpopular - the president's approval ratings have fallen to historic lows since it began. The regime in Iran has not changed and retains the ability to attack targets in the Persian Gulf and Israel.

According to U.S. intelligence, about half of Iran's missile installations are intact, and thousands of attack drones remain in Iran's arsenal. "They remain poised to wreak havoc across the region," one source said. Iran has caused "significant" damage to most of the 13 U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf, The Times said. Damage from the destruction after the first month of the war totaled nearly $1.5 billion, with at least 300 U.S. troops injured. The US also lost at least a dozen warplanes and dozens of drones.

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