The Department of War targets the First Amendment (again)

It did so by asserting that the Washington Post had committed a criminal act in its reporting. Specifically, its reporting on the concerns of senior U.S. military leaders over the impact that the war in Iran is having on broader military readiness. The Washington Post reports that the head of the Navy and most of the U.S. military’s top global commanders believe the Iran war’s continuation into 2027 will impose inadvisable costs upon the military’s readiness to address other threats such as those posed by China. In an X post on Sunday, however, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell claimed that “Publishing highly classified assessments from [Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s] orders book is a crime. It’s a betrayal of the force. And much of what they’re publishing is inaccurate. Of course, we demand candid military advice. Non-concurs are standard. The Secretary sees them constantly. That’s how you run a real military. We are in great shape around the world. This story isn’t about readiness… they hate President Trump and Secretary Hegseth more than they love America.”Parnell is either being deliberately disingenuous or does not know what he is talking about.Military or government personnel are not allowed to leak classified material, at least unless they’re Pete Hegseth (who posted highly classified operational details to a group chat that included a journalist). In contrast, the media has a First Amendment right to report on classified leaks as long as it is motivated by a sense of public interest in the scrutiny of government.There is simply no question that the Washington Post’s reporting here pertains to a matter of public interest. Namely, that the war in Iran has reduced the U.S. military’s readiness for what is supposed to be its preeminent responsibility: deterring and, if necessary, defeating China in war. But those who screech about these leaks on readiness are utterly hypocritical. After all, they had no qualms about supporting the Iran regime change effort even though it was abundantly clear prior to the war that doing so would impose significant costs on China war readiness.Sadly, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Trump administration’s disdain for the First Amendment. Hegseth has also sought to require Pentagon correspondents to sign Chinese Communist-style agreements not to do their jobs objectively, for example. In addition, the Trump administration has refused to grant credentials to major media outlets to cover the G20 finance meeting next week. The Pentagon is also now weaponizing military officers to demand that the media do whatever Hegseth wants them to do!THE NATO CODE TO DETER RUSSIA: 82, 173, 6, 16, 11Take Lt. Col. Adam D’Ortana, an active-duty Army officer. D’Ortana this weekend appeared to quite obviously breach Uniformed Code of Military Justice laws against partisan political activity by military personnel. He did so by calling on Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos to fire his defense reporters. To be clear, this is petulant drivel that would make even the mad former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin proud. But it fits perfectly with the performative theatrics that have sadly defined Hegseth’s tenure.It is highly fortunate, then, that the superb Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, retains Trump’s trust more so than does the Secretary of War.