Everywhere one looks, commentators are aghast at Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s choice for Secretary of Defense. But as usual when it comes to defense matters, everyone is wasting their energies on the wrong questions. Hegseth has become notorious for his view that women should not play combat roles in the US military. This pointless red herring has now become the centerpiece of opposition to him. How could he believe such a thing? How could he say it? What kind of cretin rejects the universal belief that women should serve in combat roles in the US military?

I do. In fact, I would go further. Not only should women not serve in combat in the US military, no one should. There is no conceivable or actual combat role that the US military is playing right now that justifies anyone’s taking part in it. It makes no sense for anyone of any gender to risk or sacrifice their life to defend Ukraine against Russia, to defend Israel’s sovereign right to commit genocide in Palestine or destroy Lebanon, or to wander into a war with China. What we need are innovative thinkers with strategies for getting us out of the conflicts we’re in, not brainless cannon fodder, male or female, sent to kill and be killed in the next psychopathic venture that our military-industrial overlords dream up. 

The question we should be asking is: why should any rational being of any gender serve a combat role (any role) in the US military? A nation’s armed services exist to defend the nation against external threats to its national security. What external threats do we face that justify the use of armed force? To what degree is the United States military actually working to defend this country against external threats, as opposed to creating new ones against which it conspicuously lacks a defense? Rest assured that the pseudo-debate over women in combat ensures that no one will ask Pete Hegseth these obvious and pressing questions. Consequently, no one will have to face the fact that he lacks answers because none exist. 

Just a piece of advice for all those liberals wringing their hands about the evils they fear from Trump: As far as foreign policy is concerned, the evils you fear are already here. You brought them here, care of your president, Joe Biden. Every other day, we’re brought to the brink of nuclear war with Russia. Every day brings us closer to war with Iran. And every day brings us closer to war with China. Instead of wringing your hands, maybe find a way of holding Trump (and by implication Hegseth) to his “promises” to get us out of the messes we’re in, starting with Ukraine and Israel. Forget the irrelevancy of women in combat. Just try harder to keep us out of combat, in which case the problem will solve itself. If no one is in combat, women won’t be. And neither will men. How’s that for equality?

Thanks to Susan Gordon for the Jeff Sachs video.