The Hegseth Illusion: How the Peace Wing Was Gutted from Within

Nancy O'Brien Simpson There was a moment—a fragile, flickering moment—when some of us believed. Not in the man, necessarily, but in the possibility. That maybe, just maybe, a rough-mouthed outsider like Donald J. Trump might finally break the war machine. He railed against “forever wars,” mocked the architects of Iraq, and gave off just enough fumes of anti-interventionism to stir the exhausted hearts of peace-seekers across the political spectrum. We knew it was a long shot. But hope, as it always does, sneaks in through the cracks. Enter Pete Hegseth.