We now have a ceasefire in Iran, at least for the moment, and President Trump will apparently not blow the country to kingdom come. But the volatility of the situation, and of Trump’s temperament, means we may be back to hostilities next week or tomorrow. The ceasefire is already fraying, and public acceptance of the narrative that the U.S. lost might push Trump to reengage. And if and when hostilities do recommence, there’s a deeper story that’s been happening with the military during Trump’s second term, of which too few Americans are aware.Since early last year, Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been methodically disassembling the ability of the Pentagon to say no to orders that are illegal or immoral. This is made worse by the fact that both Trump and Hegseth have made it clear that they regard war crimes as a necessary and proper part of the “warrior” ethos.During his first term, Trump pardoned a pair of Army officers convicted of war crimes and ordered the promotion of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, who was acquitted despite posing with the body of a teen he had killed. Gallagher’s own teammates accused him of sniping women and children in Iraq. Trump celebrated all of them, seeing nothing wrong in what they had done. This was indicative of how he would approach his second term in office.One of the first acts of the Trump-Hegseth Pentagon was to purge the military of its top lawyers (also known as JAGs, or judge advocate generals). JAGs perform the critical function of assessing the legality of anything done within the military. One piece at The Atlantic correctly described them as the “conscience” of the military. They also dismissed the Joint Chiefs chairman, the chief of naval operations, and Air Force vice chief. At the time, Hegseth told reporters that all these senior military officers were removed because he didn’t want them to pose any “roadblocks to orders that are given by a commander in chief.” The clear goal was to remove anyone who might raise ethical objections to anything the military was ordered to do by the administration. At the time, people of course understood the danger this posed and knew that this was a giant red flag. During his first term, Trump called Gallagher a “great warrior.” Gallagher’s teammates called him “toxic,” “okay with killing anything that moved,” and “freakin’ evil.” Hegseth had similar views and advocated for the pardon of service members accused or convicted of war crimes, presenting them as warriors who were unjustly treated by military bureaucracy.Hegseth has long agitated against Rules of Engagement, calling them “stupid,” “politically correct,” and “overbearing.” He has advocated for “maximum lethality” and argued that such rules hinder American warfighters. He said that his intent was to “untie the hands of our warfighters.” In reality, ROEs are there to limit civilian casualties and prevent war crimes. During counterinsurgency, or COIN, operations, preventing civilian casualties is one of the most important goals, which demonstrates that he failed to grasp the bigger picture.Since the initial firings, Hegseth has continued to dismiss anyone who has moral reservations or pushes back against orders they consider immoral or illegal. Admiral Alvin Holsey was the commander of U.S. Southern Command. In the interest of full disclosure, I served with Holsey from 1999 until 2002 in a helicopter strike squadron based in Mayport, Florida. Holsey was a serious, direct, no nonsense, by-the-book, straight shooter when I served with him. He abruptly retired in December 2025, only one year into his new assignment. It was reportedly over a disagreement with Hegseth over the legality and morality of airstrikes on unarmed vessels accused of being drug smugglers.More recently, Hegseth fired Army Chief of Staff General Randy George after George refused to remove female and Black troops from promotion lists. Hegseth also fired Chief of the Chaplain Corps Maj. Gen. William Green, reportedly for his views on the role of chaplains, and Gen. David Hodne from the Transformation and Training Command, or T2COM. These moves are unprecedented in the middle of the largest conflict the United States has faced in 20 years.I spoke off the record with people close to senior members of the military who remain. They expressed despair over the situation: The common refrain was that while they are tempted to quit, to do so will hurt the ability to protect American lives in the field. They also see the situation as hopeless: If they leave, they will just be replaced with someone even more eager to do the administration’s bidding regardless of legality or wisdom.Which brings us to today: The United States launched a war with Iran that it cannot effectively finish. Iran has control of the Strait of Hormuz and is limiting who gets through to those who will pay the toll.