US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth has slammed DEI initiatives and introduced the termination of id month celebrations
US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke out on Friday in opposition to variety initiatives within the armed forces, blasting the phrase “variety is our power” because the “dumbest” in navy historical past. Addressing Pentagon employees, he stated his management would concentrate on unity and equity whereas eliminating variety, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) applications.
“On this division, we are going to deal with everybody equally,” Hegseth instructed the viewers within the Pentagon auditorium. “We’ll deal with everybody with equity. We’ll deal with everybody with respect, and we are going to decide you as a person by your advantage and by your dedication to the staff and the mission.”
Hegseth, a former Fox Information host and US Nationwide Guard veteran, has moved to finish DEI, arguing such applications are divisive. He has additionally halted id month celebrations, comparable to Black Historical past Month and Girls’s Historical past Month. In his speech, he stated such efforts “put one group forward of one other” and “erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution.”
Hegseth additionally talked about world safety, saying current occasions had broken perceptions of American power. He pointed to the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Ukraine battle, and the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel as indicators of instability.
“Chaos occurs when the notion of American power is just not full,” he maintained. “And so we purpose to reestablish that deterrence.”
He pledged accountability for the Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021 when the US-backed authorities in Kabul collapsed quicker than anticipated.
The withdrawal from Afghanistan, deliberate by President Donald Trump in his first time period, adopted a 20-year navy marketing campaign that price billions of {dollars} and killed tens of 1000’s. Former President Joe Biden was roundly criticized for his dealing with of the pull out, wherein 13 American service members have been killed, and for leaving 1000’s of allied Afghans behind.
“We’re going to look again at what occurred in Afghanistan and maintain individuals accountable,” he stated. “Not for retribution, however to grasp what went unsuitable and why there was no accountability for it.”
President Trump has pushed again on DEI throughout the federal authorities since assuming workplace on January 20. After being sworn in, he signed a collection of orders rolling again protections for transgender people and terminating DEI initiatives.
Trump banned transgender individuals from serving within the US navy in 2017. Biden repealed the ban shortly after taking workplace in 2021, solely to have Trump reverse that in his second time period. The Pentagon repealed its “Don’t Ask, Don’t Inform” coverage in 2011, permitting homosexual and lesbian troops to serve overtly. Gender dysphoria, the medical analysis for a lot of transgender individuals, was nonetheless thought-about trigger for involuntary discharge till 2016.
All branches of the US navy are dealing with a number of the worst recruiting shortfalls of their historical past. Republican lawmakers have blamed the issue on the Pentagon’s prioritization of variety over navy readiness.
A 2021 report commissioned by Republicans on the Senate Armed Providers Committee discovered that the US Navy was focusing extra on “wokeness” and variety than profitable wars.
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