The Pentagon Is Afraid of the 'Purge' List Prepared for Hegseth but It Is Not Big Enough to Do the Job

A conservative activist group has compiled a list of 20 military officers it says need to be sacked as soon as Trump's team is in charge of the Pentagon. The group, the American Accountability Foundation, identified 20 officers ranging from a colonel to a four-star general and admiral as “pretty egregious” advocates for DEI.

This list is causing sphincters to snap shut all through the upper ranks.

The list compiled by the American Accountability Foundation includes 20 general officers or senior admirals and a disproportionate number of female officers. It has had a chilling effect on the Pentagon’s often frank discussions as leaders try to figure out how to address the potential firings and diversity issues under President-elect Donald Trump.
Those on the list in many cases seem to be targeted for public comments they made either in interviews or at events on diversity, and in some cases for retweeting posts that promote diversity.
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A defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the list said senior leaders are hoping that once Trump is sworn in, they will be able to discuss the issue further. They are prepared to provide additional context to the incoming administration, the official told The Associated Press, which is not publishing the names to protect service members’ privacy.
Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday that the list would have “considerable, wide and deep consequences.” He said when military members see people singled out, they will start focusing on their own survival rather than the mission or their job.
“You will drive people out,” Hagel said. “It affects morale as widely and deeply as anything — it creates a negative dynamic that will trickle through an organization."

While DEI is a core problem in the military, my view is that this is more of a public relations exercise than an actual proposal. The problem isn't that some upwardly mobile general or nagging scold of a terminal colonel with a Karen streak (see Dear white colonel … we must address our blind spots around race) mouthed DEI platitudes.

In ancient China, the punishment for very serious crimes, particularly treason, was "nine familial exterminations." In this punishment, not only was the criminal killed, but their entire family tree was extinguished.

The criminal's parents
The criminal's grandparents
Any children the criminal may have, over a certain age (varying over different eras, children below that age becoming slaves) and—if married—their spouses.
Any grandchildren the criminal may have, over a certain age (again with enslavement for the underaged) and—if married—their spouses.
Siblings and siblings-in-law (the siblings of the criminal and that of his or her spouse, in the case where he or she is married)
Uncles and aunts of the criminal, as well as their spouses
The criminal's cousins (in the case of China, this included up to second and third cousins)
The criminal's spouse
The criminal's spouse's parents
The criminal

To root out the DEI culture, we need to use this ancient method of punishment as a model for moving forward.

It isn't enough to know that a three- or four-star is enamored with racial bean-counting. You have to know who they are mentoring. Who sat on the promotion boards that promoted them? Who is their DEI guru, and who mentored and trained that person? Who wrote DEI policies? Who enforced demographic quotas? Who belonged to race- or sex-specific affinity groups? Who organized and promoted those groups?

The worst thing the next Secretary of Defense could do is fire a couple of dozen high-profile DEI proponents and declare victory. The goal has to be a purge that progressive military officers will use to terrify their children into obedience two or three generations from now.