https://www.rediff.com/news/special/pen ... 260403.htm
Pentagon Purge Rocks Iran War
PREM PANICKER, April 03, 2026
On the 33rd day of America's war with Iran, Secretary of Defence (Yeah, he is actually the self-designated Secretary of War, but I'm damned if I'll use that ridiculous formulation) Pete Hegseth fired the army chief ofsStaff.
General Randy George had led the army out of one of its worst recruiting crises in history, had pushed hard to modernise for the drone-dominated battlefield he'd seen in Ukraine, and had served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan where he'd earned a reputation as an innovative combat leader.
None of that saved him. He learned he was fired in a 4 pm phone call from Hegseth, around the same time CBS News reported the fact. Along with General George, Hegseth also fired General David Hodne, who led the army's Transformation and Training Command, and Major General William Green Jr, the army's top chaplain.
No official reason has been offered for any of these dismissals.
Pentagon Purge Shocks US Military
The New York Times reported that the tension with General George was not rooted in any substantive disagreement over army direction.
It was, officials said, the product of Hegseth's 'long-running grievances with the Army, battles over personnel, and his troubled relationship' with Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.
Hegseth had been pressing General George and Driscoll for months to remove four colonels from a brigadier general promotion list -- two of them Black, two of them women.
General George and Driscoll refused, citing the officers' 'long records of exemplary service'.
Hegseth refused to even meet with General George to discuss the matter.
Last week, far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who is close to both Hegseth and Trump, had posted on social media that Hegseth was 'seriously considering' removing General George.
Days later, it was done.
Hegseth has now fired or pushed out the chairman of the joint chiefs, the chief of naval operations, the No 2 general at the air force, and dozens of senior officers and military lawyers across the services.
As The Atlantic noted, the pace of these firings is greater than that of any Pentagon chief in the modern era, including across two decades of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. [The Atlantic (external link)]
At least 50,000 troops are now deployed in the Gulf region. Members of the 82nd Airborne have been arriving in theatre over the past week.
A former official, surveying the wreckage, offered the most damning assessment possible: 'You could argue it's a big deal he (General George) lasted this long.'
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On the same day all of this was unfolding, Donald Trump posted this (external link) on Truth Social:
'Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran.
'Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants! New Regime leadership knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!'
The bluster is trademark Trump. (It is also a bit bewildering: How is Iran supposed to know what needs to be done, fast or slow, when Trump himself is not clear about his objectives?) But behind it, a very different picture is emerging.
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Gautam