Post
Steve Vladeck
@stevevladeck.bsky.social
Firing all of the JAGs (Judge Advocates General)—the top lawyers in each service branch—is just as bad as, if not worse than, firing (most of) the Joint Chiefs.
FOLLOWUP: SECDEF Hegseth also firing the CNO, the USAF Vice-Chief, and somewhat unusually and ominously to do in the same breath, the senior JAGs of the Army, Navy, and USAF
February 21, 2025 at 5:23 PM
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Pretty clear, he/they are cementing their own military strike force. preparing for the day when they start cutting Medicare and Social Security benefits, and all us old geezers rebel, take to the streets. I am totally dependent in my old age on SS and Medicare. Cancer survivor. We won't survive this
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They don't want to be prosecuted when they start shooting civilians.
Seriously concerning. From experience, JAG Corps and all uniformed legal professionals are great. They are professional and objective, willing to support lawful decisions, even if they don’t personally agree…emphasis on lawful. Eager to hear what requests or ultimatums precipitated their dismissals
Yes. Clearly someone plans to issue some legally questionable orders and they don’t want anyone familiar with uniformed codes and military law to interfere when they do.
Hegseth & Trump are pro war crime. They hate JAGs bc they prosecute war crimes.
time.com/7176342/pete...
Hegseth is beholden to the felonious orange anus and neither obeys a pledge of allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America and therefore they are traitors and so disobeying their orders is an obligation based on any oaths taken as a member of the United States Armed Services.
This is what's not being reported enough. If you wanted to use troops against US citizens or commit warcrimes, kneecapping JAGs are the place to start. Firing officers you can't rely on to go along or who might resist or actively fight the coup - are the second part of the equation.
Nobody seems to grasp that this is in fact already happening and that we are a fascist dictatorship now, and our military didn’t do anything to stop it while they still could.
Hegseth is a tv host. He is doing this with glee, but he is not directing this. No one believes that he has any understanding of how things work, but he’s following someone’s orders. So who is the central mastermind of the govt takeover and weakening of our military?
Super handy, when the question "is this an illegal order" is going to come up, and come up alot, having your own hand-picked senior JAG's
I don’t believe every Senior JAG he installs will throw themselves under the bus in service of this man…
I admire your optimism. I don’t share it, unfortunately.
That’s okay, I will believe enough for the both of us.
What crimes is he planning to ask the military to engage in…?
Firing top JAGs (legal council for our soldiers) from all branches of military is something incredibly ominous. This is definitely setting up the ability for Hegseth to knowingly command the military to break the law for Trump. THIS IS A FIVE ALARM FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!
It's a binary choice now of JAGs who oppose this or are Nazis. There is no middle ground.
THEY ARE PLANNING TO USE TROOPS AGAINST US CIVILIANS.
THIS IS STEP ONE.
Step one is using them against non-citizens. It was too depressing to read, I saved it for later.
Hazarding a guess here but this is basically purging the ethics and oversight right?
The JAG are who officers call if they need guidance on whether or not an order is lawful and should be legally carried out.
Yeah, that's what I was afraid of
It’s like the DOD’s conscience was just removed
Firing JAGs is worse than firing the Joint Chiefs, to my mind. Creating a lawless military to try to do unlawful things.
Hegseth has repeatedly called for withdrawing from the Geneva Conventions and pretty much has said he doesn’t believe “war crime” is a real thing
www.newyorker.com/news/news-de...
Anyone still believe that Trump has a rulebook?
Since 2016 I've been saying this: There are no rules in Trump's world. None.
Need compliant generals when you’re getting ready to invade Canada and Greenland, and start bombing Mexico. Not even joking…
And using the army to kill protesters, as they’ve been fantasizing about doing for years.
When Trump orders the military to violate the Posse Comitatus Act with some weak figleaf, the new JAG officers will say it’s ok. Maybe torture will be cool again too. Hesgeth loves war crimes.
Trump & Hegseth are planning to use our U.S. military to take illegal actions against Americans.
And Republicans - especially Trump sycophant Lindsey Graham, a former Judge Advocate General Corps member - will be 100% OK with it.
It's way past time for Americans to take to the streets!
The parallels with autocratic regimes, like Putins are ominous. Appoint only those who support you and are prepared to do exactly what you tell them to. Yet he has the nerve to call Zelensky a dictator.
Like an adulterous spouse accusing his wife of being unfaithful.
In Kuwait yrs ago, we had an Army CDR who asked his JAGs to concur on something he wanted done that was against contracting regulation. None would sign off on it so he pressured the lowest-ranking JAG he could find (a CPT) who signed the Legal Opinion. As a civilian Contracting Officer, I refused 1/
to go along with it, so he went to my Deputy who was a MAJ who did what he was ordered. DUI Hire removed the JAGs so he can replace them with lower-ranking ones whom he can easily pressure to concur with whatever unethical, improper, illegal acts he wants to commit or reg/law they want to violate.
Surely this will be former JAG officer Lindsey Graham’s red line /s
Easier to declare martial law in the future if Trump gets some bobblehead JAGs.
I think you put your finger on it. I’ve been saying this administration *wants* mass protests so they can then declare martial law. That’s the end goal.
That would lead to immediate civil war. No doubt.
I have been saying for a while now that Syrian Civil War is a more likely outcome than a consolidated Nazi regime.
Steve, I do not see the country remaining as we have mostly known it. I doubt we'll recognize it on April 1st. For the past year I have told friends and others with whom I interact that Trump would destroy the country if reelected. He's on the way.