U.S. boat strikes have killed at least 95 people, with three attacks ordered on Monday by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth adding to an already catastrophic toll. This is no longer reckless incompetence; it is a lethal and climbing civilian death toll.

Hegseth should resign or be removed as secretary of defense. Not tomorrow, not after another investigation. Now. 

For over two centuries, the biggest threats to our national security have come from abroad. Today, the most destabilizing force endangering our military, our institutions and our global credibility is right here at home. The self-proclaimed “Secretary of War” — an obvious embarrassment at the time of his confirmation — aspired to meet the lowest bar of competency and failed. His incompetence has devolved into dangerousness.  

Every day Hegseth remains in command of the world’s most powerful military, American service members, the rule of law and our national security are at risk. 

The unprecedented combination of recklessness and ineptitude Hegseth has displayed as defense secretary should disqualify him from holding a security clearance, let alone overseeing the U.S. military. 

In his latest dereliction, Hegseth ordered attacks on boats he claims (without clear evidence) were carrying drugs off the coast of Venezuela. Those killed include shipwrecked survivors targeted in the water. Setting aside the grave legal and moral implications of reportedly ordering forces “to kill the entire crew,” this strategy does nothing to disrupt the fentanyl trade. Pablo Escobar-style kingpins are not piloting go-fast boats. Killing suspected couriers rather than capturing and interrogating them destroys potential intelligence that could lead to the leaders of criminal networks.

Under a competent administration, being investigated for potential war crimes would be grounds for dismissal. For Hegseth, it’s just the latest scandal.

Earlier this year, Hegseth shared the time, location, ordinance to be used and mission goals of an attack in Yemen with friends, family, a reporter and others. Further demonstrating his lack of fitness to serve, Hegseth refused to acknowledge the classified nature of the information, admit his mistake, and, at the very least, commit to not repeating this behavior. A soldier would likely have been prosecuted for this dereliction of duty.

The list of Hegseth’s fireable offenses is long. In less than a year, he’s obliterated all norms of nonpartisanship and abused his office to punish those he disagrees with politically. He launched a sham investigation into a decorated military veteran and senator, purged female officers from high-ranking positions of leadership, and, anticipating the need to issue unlawful orders, fired the military’s top lawyers to remove what he called “roadblocks” to Trump’s directives. By gutting the Pentagon’s longstanding legal oversight, Hegseth has weakened accountability and diminished our standing in the world. He’s put his own personal impunity over our shared security.

These failings do not even include the daily damage Hegseth has inflicted on military readiness and the morale of our men and women in uniform. From openly disparaging women in combat roles and mocking senior leadership as “fat,” to rescinding longstanding policies that protect Black service members and religious minorities, and dismissing diversity and professionalism as weaknesses, Hegseth has treated his brief tenure at the Pentagon like an extension of his “Fox & Friends” TV show days.

Hegseth has created a hostile environment at the Department of Defense in which speaking out carries real consequences. History shows that officers — especially female general officers — who, publicly and unabashedly, challenge politicization or unlawful conduct have been sidelined, punished or forced out. Threatening and punishing truth-tellers is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime.    

When you add it all up, we’re left with a secretary of defense who cannot handle classified information, who violates the laws of war, who politicizes the military justice system, who disparages the people he is charged with leading and who is more focused on scoring political points for his party than preserving the safety and security of his country.  

Veterans, military families and all who believe in the honor and integrity of the armed forces must make their voices heard to members of Congress.

For the safety of our service members, the integrity of our military and the survival of democratic civilian control, Pete Hegseth must resign or be fired immediately.

Robin B. Umberg is a retired Army brigadier general. Thomas J. Umberg is a retired Army colonel, former deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and current California state senator.

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle: Here