Pentagon's Hegseth: 'diversity is our strength' is dumbest phrase in military history

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday chided past celebrations of the U.S. military's diversity in a broad address to Pentagon staff in which he also promised a tougher approach to NATO and accountability over the war in Afghanistan.

"I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is our diversity is our strength," Hegseth told an audience of several hundred people, gathered in the Pentagon auditorium, adding under his watch "we will treat everyone with fairness."

Hegseth, a veteran and former Fox News personality, has moved quickly to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the Pentagon, arguing that they are divisive.

He has also ended commemorations of identity month celebrations, like Black History Month and Women’s History Month, issuing guidance to the U.S. military that "efforts to divide the force – to put one group ahead of another – erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution."

DEI programs seek to promote opportunities for women, ethnic minorities and other traditionally underrepresented groups. Civil rights advocates argue such programs, generally backed by Democrats, are needed to address longstanding inequities and structural racism.

They have come under attack from conservatives, who say race- and gender-focused initiatives are inherently discriminatory and fail to prioritize merit.

"Our strength is our shared purpose, regardless of our background, regardless of how we grew up, regardless of our gender, regardless of our race," he said.

AMERICAN WEAKNESS

Hegseth pointed the failed war in Afghanistan, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 as events that have eroded the global view of American strength. That, he said, increases risks to global stability.

"Unfortunately, over the last couple of years, we've seen events that have occurred that created the perception, reality or perception, but I would argue more perception, of American weakness," Hegseth said.

"Chaos happens when the perception of American strength is not complete. And so we aim to reestablish that deterrence."

Hegseth said he would travel next week to a NATO gathering of defense ministers in Brussels to deliver a message for them to "step up in their industrial base, in spending."

He promised that there would be accountability for war in Afghanistan, which ended dramatically in 2021 with a chaotic withdrawal after a faster-than-expected collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Kabul.

"We are going to look back at what happened in Afghanistan and hold people accountable -- not to be retrospective, not for retribution, but to understand what went wrong and why there was no accountability for it," he said.

Hegseth suggested that President Donald Trump's administration would seek to reestablish global deterrence by focusing on securing the U.S. border with Mexico. He also said "at a bare minimum" the Pentagon would pass a clean audit at the end of Trump's four year term, which concludes in early 2029. That would appear to be in line with previous goals under President Joe Biden's administration and a requirement by Congress for the Pentagon to pass an audit by the end of 2028.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Alistair Bell)