WASHINGTON, D.C.- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, who was in charge of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). This shows that the government is still trying to get allegiance from the military and intelligence agencies. A White House official and other sources have verified the decision. It comes after a leaked DIA analysis said that U.S. airstrikes in June had only held back Iran’s nuclear development by a few months, which went against what President Donald Trump had said in public.
After the June attacks on three Iranian nuclear installations, President Trump said that the Iranian program was “completely and fully obliterated.” But a preliminary DIA report, parts of which were leaked to the press, said that the strikes had not worked nearly as well. The President, who has always been skeptical of intelligence reports, including one that said Russia participated in the 2016 election, did not agree with the report’s findings.
At the time, Defense Secretary Hegseth spoke at a news conference and criticized the press for focusing on the preliminary evaluation, but he didn’t give any clear proof that the facilities had been destroyed. Instead, he said, “You can call it destroyed, defeated, or obliterated—pick your word.” This attack was very successful in the past.
The termination of Lt. Gen. Kruse is part of a bigger shake-up in the national security apparatus. Hegseth also dismissed Kruse and:
Vice Adm. Nancy Lacore was in charge of the Navy Reserve and managed a group of over 59,000 people.
Rear Adm. Milton Sands was in charge of the Naval Special Warfare Command and was a Navy SEAL officer.
Democrats in Congress are worried about these firings since there have been no public justifications for them. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who is also the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the termination “shows how dangerous it is for the Trump administration to treat intelligence as a loyalty test instead of a way to protect our country.” Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, also asked the administration to explain the firing, saying, “We can only assume that this is another politically motivated decision.”
The firings are the last step in a week of big changes in the leadership of national security. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said it would cut its workforce and budget, and it has started releasing information that cast doubt on earlier intelligence reports. Gen. David Allvin, the Air Force’s highest-ranking officer in uniform, also said he would retire two years early. Critics are worried that the administration is systematically getting rid of personnel whose data or analysis do not match what the President says in public. This is because of these moves and other high-profile firings of military officers.