Thinking about War, &c.

On Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George C. Marshall, and more

FDR, Marshall (Wikimedia Commons)

President Trump was commenting on his cabinet, with Marco Rubio to his right and Pete Hegseth to his left. “Secretary of war, Pete Hegseth,” he said. “Central Casting. He loves war.” Then he gave Hegseth a couple of playful pats, while Hegseth grinned.

Hegseth is, in fact, the secretary of defense, not the secretary of war, no matter what Trump and his administration assert.

Then there is “Central Casting.” Trump loves to use this phrase. He uses it about the Chinese dictator, Xi Jinping, repeatedly. (I touched on this in an article last week, here.)

In Trump’s eyes, Hegseth, a onetime Fox News host, looks the part—looks like a defense secretary. That is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.

But then there is “He loves war.” Can you think of another defense secretary—almost another human being—who would fail to object to this?

The words “He loves war” made me think immediately of “I hate war.” Those words are associated with Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In August 1936, he spoke at Chautauqua, saying,

I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen 200 limping, exhausted men come out of line—the survivors of a regiment of 1,000 that went forward 48 hours before. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.

(During World War I, FDR was the assistant secretary of the Navy. In the summer of 1918, he went to France, where he visited the front lines.)

I also think of George C. Marshall: chief of staff of the Army, secretary of state, and secretary of defense. In 1953, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, chiefly for the Marshall Plan, which he was the only one not to call it. He called it by its formal name, the “European Recovery Program.”

In his Nobel lecture, Marshall said,

There has been considerable comment over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a soldier. I am afraid this does not seem as remarkable to me as it quite evidently appears to others.

I know a great deal of the horrors and tragedies of war. Today, as chairman of the American Battle Monuments Commission, it is my duty to supervise the construction and maintenance of military cemeteries in many countries overseas, particularly in Western Europe. The cost of war in human lives is constantly spread before me, written neatly in many ledgers whose columns are gravestones.

I am deeply moved to find some means or method of avoiding another calamity of war. Almost daily I hear from the wives, or mothers, or families, of the fallen. The tragedy of the aftermath is almost constantly before me.

While researching a history of the Nobel Peace Prize, I learned a fair amount about Marshall. The kind of man you want in positions of authority.

***

The Ukrainians are fighting for their lives, making the ultimate sacrifices. They are fighting for their country, their independence, their freedom. They ought to have the admiration of the whole world, certainly of Americans.

Every morning, I wake up to news such as this: “Russia launches a massive drone and missile strike on Ukraine, leaving 17 dead and nearly 100 injured.” (For the article in question, go here.)

It is possible to become numb to such news. “Russia kills 17.” “The temperature today will reach 81, with a low of 64.” Numbness should be resisted. It is an aid to the aggressor.

***

Here was some good news, from my point of view:

Defying Republican leaders, the House voted on Wednesday to take up a bill to impose sweeping new sanctions on Russia and provide additional aid to Ukraine, after a bloc of G.O.P. defectors joined Democrats in an effort to ratchet up pressure on Moscow more than four years into the war.

(Article here.)

Six Republicans joined every Democrat to help Ukraine. That made the vote 218 to 204. Bless those six: the few, the proud …

I was a Republican once. For many years, in fact (until May 2016). If you had told me, “Putin’s Russia will invade an ally of ours, Ukraine, and one of our major parties will refuse to support Ukraine,” I would have bet on the Democrats, for sure.

The world can be awfully tricky.

I wish to call the roll—the roll of those six Republicans who joined the Democrats in support of Ukraine: Don Bacon (Neb.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Mike Lawler (N.Y.), Michael McCaul (Texas), Max Miller (Ohio), and Joe Wilson (S.C.).

In music, we have a phrase: “Les Six,” or “The Six.” (These were a group of composers in the early 20th century based in Paris.) We have another phrase: the “Mighty Handful.” (These were Russian composers in the 19th century.)

Again, bless those Republican six, that mighty handful.

***

Did you happen to see this? You are looking at a post from Kirill Dmitriev, who is Putin’s “peace envoy” (and also his money man). (On the other side, “our” side, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are the “peace envoys” and money men.)

The AfD, as you know, is the far-right party in Germany, a favorite of Vice President JD Vance and other such Americans.

Anyway, that post:

“Looking forward to building a great FUTURE together.” Have we seen such a German-Russian alliance before? Lovers of freedom will oppose both the AfD and Putin with all their might.

***

This has not been a very fun column, my friends. I have lots of lighter items—humorous items, feel-good items. I will save them.

There has been a great deal written about the firings at 60 Minutes. I will not say much about them, here and now. But there is one point I will not refrain from making. It pertains to Scott Pelley, in particular.

People who stick up for their fired colleagues are very, very rare. This is understandable. People are worried about their own jobs, and the fired are like lepers. No one wants to catch what they have. People even have trouble looking the fired in the eye.

I say: bless the stickers-up.

Later on.