The Pentagon is a hotbed of heresy. This week Hegseth ridiculed rules of engagement that govern the military’s use of deadly force. Operatically a Christian, he desecrates our Lord’s gospel by proclaiming a doctrine of cruelty for cruelty’s sake. It’s the Trump administration’s most common exegetical error. But to paraphrase John Prine, his Jerusalem Cross tattoo won’t get him into heaven anymore. It’s already filling up because of his unpopular, unwarranted, unprovoked, illegal, immoral, un-Christian war.Nearly 900 have died already, including six United States volunteers. Some commanders are reportedly encouraging our forces to think that they are harbingers of the end of days. Faithful leaders and soldiers often have to set their principles aside to do their difficult work. But notwithstanding the bad Bible scholarship behind end time predictions, teaching that Jesus ever encourages or welcomes war is an abomination. He wants our volunteers home with their families, safe and sound.
Theological errors are one thing. We all make our share. But Trump’s errors of statecraft are unforgivable. His inconsistent statements to journalists show he has no idea what he’s doing. Like a gambler at one of his bankrupt casinos, he rolled the dice to see what would happen. He said this week that it would be a shame if we ended up with worse leaders in Iran. You think about that before, not after, sending volunteers to risk their lives. Even those who hate the Iranian regime have to acknowledge the recklessness of wars of choice as games of chance.
No president evades the law of unintended consequences forever. But none before Trump acted with his arrogant disregard of the due diligence required before undertaking the last resort of war. None made an idol of what they took to be their superior instincts. They sparred constantly with smarter, more experienced experts. Worthy conversation partners would have been especially easy for Trump to identify.
The presidential proof is in the cold war pudding. The Soviet Union once had 50,000 nukes aimed at us and our allies. Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and the first Bush made many mistakes but co-managed the great twilight struggle to a relatively peaceful end. Whereas Trump couldn’t contain and deter a weakening regime that was years away from posing a serious threat to Israel or us. Containment would have been leaving President Obama’s landmark nuclear deal in place, deterrence the threat of matching violations with attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities. That would’ve been well-discerned leadership.
Instead we have regional chaos and 900 souls gone in less than a week, with no end in sight. Trump might blunder into peace with a friendly Tehran regime. But experts will never teach his tactics at war colleges. They would reckon the outcome as dumb luck. Even a broken president can be right twice a term. If it comes out badly, which seems likely, we may have to reckon instead with the spectacle of our leaders being tried for war crimes.