Star Wars and FAFO: Pete Hegseth criticised for ‘embarrassing’ weapons speech | indy100

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In the latest instance of US president Donald Trump’s administration undermining the Republican’s efforts to get a Nobel Peace Prize with its actions, defense secretary Pete Hegseth declared on Friday that the Pentagon will now be pivoting to a “wartime footing”.

“We are solving life and death problems for war fighters. We are not building for peacetime; we are pivoting the Pentagon and our industrial base to a wartime footing. Building for victory should our adversaries FAFO [f*** around and find out],” he said.

The comments were made as part of a speech at the National War College in Washington, D.C., which saw Hegseth detail how the Pentagon is revamping the acquisition of weapons from advanced technology to products which can be produced and delivered quickly.

But it was both the announcement of the wartime footing, and how it was shared, which left social media users concerned:

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Podcaster Chuck Todd asked: “Does Congress know about this?”

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Another account wrote: “Nothing says ‘I’m qualified to lead the largest military in the world’ like a man who announces a shift from peacetime to wartime with the acronym FAFO”:

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And a third described Hegseth as “so f***ing cringe and embarrassing”:

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It’s not the only moment from the speech which has left social media users wincing, as Hegseth also addressed industry partners and said they are “our allies”.

“You are Obi Wan Kenobi. You are our only hope,” he said.

Twitter/X users shared Star Wars memes to express their frustration:

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And one said they were “cringing so hard [that] spinal fluid is coming out of my nose”:

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We can’t quite believe it either, to be honest…

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