Pete Hegseth’s ‘Deeply Troubling’ Selection

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Pete Hegseth at the confirmation hearing on Tuesday. Mr. Hegseth a former Fox News host and an Army veteran, repeatedly characterized himself as a “war fighter.”Credit…Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “G.O.P. Embraces Pick for Defense at Testy Hearing” (front page, Jan. 15):

The selection of Pete Hegseth to be secretary of defense is deeply troubling in more than one way. The attention devoted to his questionable character and unseemly past behavior should not obscure an equally fundamental problem: his stunning lack of qualifications for so important a position.

There is quite simply nothing in his résumé to suggest that he would be up to the daunting challenges he would face at the Pentagon. If one were to throw a dart at a list of 100 senior Pentagon officials currently serving, it is unlikely that the dart would land on the name of anyone whose credentials at the time of their appointment were as slight as Mr. Hegseth’s.

Our national security demands a far more experienced and capable leader.

Douglas M. Parker
Ojai, Calif.
The writer served in the Office of the Army Judge Advocate General at the Pentagon from 1960 to 1962.

To the Editor:

I am the daughter of an Army veteran, the wife of an Air Force veteran, and the parent of Marine and Navy veterans. I believe that Pete Hegseth lacks the integrity necessary to serve as secretary of defense.

When questioned about reports of public drunkenness, he could have answered “yes” or “no”; instead he said these reports were part of an anonymous “smear campaign.”

He refused to agree that sexual assault or showing up for work drunk would be disqualifying. While offering to abstain from alcohol, he refused to commit to resign if he were to drink as secretary of defense.

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