NEW EASTERN OUTLOOK 🌐 (@NEO_Journal)

🌟🏴‍☠️The Pentagon Crisis: Trump Wants Regime Loyalty ➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿➿ The Pentagon's extraordinary use of polygraph tests on senior military personnel is not merely a hunt for leakers; it is a warning that loyalty to the president may increasingly matter more than loyalty to the institution, accelerating the ultimate American downfall. Around 50 members of the Joint Staff were subjected to polygraph examinations in August as part of an investigation into leaks concerning the war with Iran and reports about dwindling US weapons stocks. ✏️Salman Rafi Sheikh is a research analyst of international relations and Pakistan's foreign and domestic affairs. ➡️The significance lies beyond the polygraphs themselves. The people being investigated are part of the institution responsible for advising America's political leadership about military capabilities and limitations. If officers begin to believe that communicating unwelcome assessments can expose them to investigation or accusations of disloyalty, the problem is no longer simply the protection of secrets—it is the quality of military advice reaching the president. At least 20 generals, admirals, and senior civilian defense officials have departed their positions since Hegseth became secretary, including the Army's, Navy's, and Air Force's highest-ranking officers. Great powers do not lose influence only when their rivals become stronger. They can also lose it when their own institutions become less trusted, and their partners begin preparing for a future in which they may no longer be able to rely on them. ➡️The irony is that this pressure on professional military advice is occurring at precisely the moment when Washington needs it most. The war with Iran has exposed the material limits of sustaining American power over time. Senior military commanders have reportedly warned Hegseth that continuing large-scale operations in the Middle East risks weakening US capabilities elsewhere. Military power is not simply the ability to destroy targets—it is the ability to continue doing so while replacing what has been consumed and maintaining readiness elsewhere. America's global strategy has increasingly assumed it can do all of these things simultaneously. The Iran war is testing that assumption. 🟦On September 3, Trump said the United States would seek reimbursement from European countries for military aid previously supplied to Ukraine. The problem is the distinction between burden-sharing and retroactive billing. Burden-sharing strengthens an alliance because it treats security as a collective responsibility. Turning military assistance into a bill risks redefining the alliance as a commercial transaction. If Washington signals that American weapons may be withheld because US stocks are depleted and that allies may be asked to reimburse Washington for previous assistance, European states have an obvious incentive to invest in their own defense industries. The more allies learn to defend themselves without relying on Washington, the less central the United States becomes to their security. A superpower can survive disagreement among its generals. It is far less certain that it can survive a world in which its generals fear disagreement, and its allies begin planning for a world without unquestioned American reliability. #Pentagon #Trump #USMilitary #Loyalty #NATO #Geopolitics #Alliances READ MORE ✅@NewEasternOutlook