Maddow Blog | Three weeks later, the White House recognizes Hergus’ “rookie mistake”
When Pete Hegseth was preparing to become Secretary of Defense, many of his critics made a convincing case that the former Fox News host was not ready to lead the Pentagon, among other things. Soon after, he took steps to help prove his critics right.
In fact, just a few weeks ago, the unfortunate Pentagon chief publicly announced that Russia would not take away the Ukrainian part of its force after the war in Ukraine. He added that Ukraine’s membership in NATO would not happen at all.
These comments certainly fit the Kremlin’s aspiration—a familiar issue for this administration—but they were also immediately recognized as a dramatic lapse: Hegs had already given Moscow what he wanted before negotiations on a possible peace plan began.
This error did not attract attention. Not only was our allies surprised, but Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, blamed the Secretary of Defense for making “rookie mistakes.”
Hegseth quickly tried to back down his comments, although three weeks later, his “rookie mistake” seemed to have become the official White House policy. Politico summed up White House national security adviser Mike Waltz appeared in CNN’s “All Alliance State” plan.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz reached a final ceasefire agreement on the ITU state: “It will obviously be some type of territorial concession to ensure security assurance. …This has to be permanent, not a temporary end. It needs to be a European-led security assurance. Part of it is Europe’s contribution to its own defense. … Then, you know, we don’t go beyond ourselves – the support we provide or what kind of support we don’t offer. But one thing is clear: we can’t see Ukraine as a member of NATO.”
Let’s review it. Hegseth said in February that Russia would be able to retain some of the force taken by Ukraine, and now in March, White House national security adviser said Ukraine would have to make “some type of territorial concessions” to Russia, as far as the Trump administration is concerned.
Hegseth said in February that Ukraine’s valid membership in NATO was already valid, and now in March, the White House National Security Advisor effectively said the same thing.
Actually, Waltz managed to leave farther Hegseth told TV viewers across the country that the government is not sure whether Volodymyr Zelenskyy should continue to serve as Ukraine’s leader. “We need a leader who can deal with us, and ultimately deal with the Russians and end this war,” Walz said. “And, obviously Zelenskyy’s personal or political motivation is different from ending the fight in other countries, then I think we have a real problem on our hands.”
In other words, diplomacy has hardly even begun, but as far as the White House is concerned, Ukraine should be prepared to reward Russia with its territory, abandon its NATO membership, and even prepare to choose a new president with Donald Trump’s will.
It is one thing for amateur cabinet secretary to make a “rookie mistake”. The government takes the mistake as American foreign policy is something else.
This article was originally published on msnbc.com
