The general responsible for planning an exit from America’s Iran war has been dismissed – just as the US desperately searches for a way out.
“No fatties … no beardos, no weirdos.”
That’s the “warrior ethos” US Secretary of War Peter Hegseth seeks to impose upon the US military.
But does it also extend to “no know-it-alls”?
He’s fired yet another general.
This time, it is the general he had tasked with planning President Donald Trump’s war on Iran.
Which is odd, given all signs point to a massive build-up of naval and air power in the Middle East for a renewed campaign once US midterm elections in November are over.
General Brett Sylvia delivered.
At least at first.
The snatch-and-grab raid that handed the White House Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro (and the keys to Venezuela’s oil riches) was an outstanding success.
The death toll from missile attacks on Caribbean speedboats soared.
And the “shock and awe” delivered in the opening strikes against Iran were spectacular.
Ships were sunk. Missile launchers destroyed. Leaders killed.
On the surface, it was an overwhelming victory.
But Iran didn’t surrender.
And the threat Secretary Hegseth and President Trump dismissed became an inconvenient reality: Gulf of Hormuz oil shipments stopped.
That war is now a stalemate.
And it’s embarrassing Mr Trump, who had insisted to his MAGA followers that there would be “no more forever wars”.
US Central Command, run by the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been tasked with finding another way to end it. They’ve reportedly put a fresh set of options on the President’s Oval Office desk.
General Sylvia was responsible for them.
“This is really, in my view, about the secretary trying to get rid of people who may have the courage to push back,” says the former Commanding General of the US Army in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges.
“I think that General Sylvia is one of these officers that did his duty, extremely professional, competent officer, but also did his duty in giving the best military advice to the civilian leadership.”
Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil
General Sylvia’s predecessor was fired just 12 months ago.
Lieutenant General Joseph McGee had allegedly dared to disagree with his White House masters on issues ranging from attacking suspected drug boats, supporting Ukraine, and other military interventions the Trump Administration was exploring.
Mr Trump, after all, had been threatening to invade Cuba. And Panama. And Greenland. And Canada.
And Secretary Hegseth, a former television presenter and National Guard weekend warrior, had his own ideas about how his military should operate.
Since January 2025, he’s purged more than 80 generals.
That’s some 10 per cent of his military’s most experienced leadership.
He’s also blocked the promotions of dozens more, especially those he considers “woke” among non-Pentecostal, Black and female ranks.
General Sylvia, a former commander of the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division, was dismissed for “severe misconduct”.
No formal reason has been given.
No immediate replacement has been announced.
“There’s a problem with the way that the secretary has been sacking so many officers without explanation,” General Hodges told European media.
“All of us always know that you serve at the pleasure of the president and that it’s a privilege to be in that position. But when there’s no explanation of why, it does nothing to help improve discipline. It makes people wonder what’s going on. And it definitely does not build trust in the system or in the chain of command.”
General Sylvia’s son, Gavin, was accused by White House “Loyalty Enforcer” Laura Loomer of posting inflammatory messages to social media after the assassination of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk last year.
“His father is a Major General in the United States Army and currently serves at the Pentagon. He was nominated for a third star by Joe Biden,” Ms Loomer proclaimed at the time.
“These people hate us. They don’t belong near the levers of our National Power.”
Pentagon sources now suggest General Sylvia has fallen foul of “free-speech absolutist” Secretary Hegseth’s paranoia. He’d reportedly undergone three lie detector tests over suspected media leaks.
General Hodges has his doubts.
“If in fact he had failed more than one of these tests, why had the chairman of the Joint Chiefs kept him in place? Has the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Kane, even been informed?”
On a wing and a prayer
“Now is not the time when you’d want to lose the J5,” a former Joint Chiefs of Staff official told US media overnight.
“This person would serve as a critical link between the operational force, the department policy, and the White House.”
Mr Trump wants war to go away.
Even the one he started.
Oil prices in particular have skyrocketed and remain stubbornly high. That’s despite repeated assurances that the Strait of Hormuz has been reopened. And a special diesel deal with Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin.
So he wants to deliver another final blow on Iran.
Even though missile interceptor and other guided ammunition stockpiles are critically low.
“The very important job that General General Sylvia had was about plans, but also policies. And policies are based on priorities,” General Hodges explains.
“So now you’re injecting additional confusion and uncertainty into a critical part of the staff that looks at not just the Middle East but also the broader US strategic interests.”
The Trump Administration is threatening to withdraw from Europe. And end its participation in NATO.
The Pentagon has been ordered to conduct a Force Posture Review to explore the options of doing so.
“This also would be under the purview of General Sylvia,” General Hodges adds.
“So I could imagine the military is telling the secretary, ‘Look, if you reduce too much, it’s going to put our interests at risk. And it’s going to damage our ability to work with our allies’.
“If I was to guess, it would be boiled down to the fact that [Hegseth] probably didn’t like that [Sylvia] didn’t just roll over for whatever they wanted.”
Secretary Hegseth announced earlier this month plans to cut another 10 per cent of his military’s generals and admirals, insisting they’re “out of touch” with reality.
“With more layers and more rank comes more distance between the warfighter and the decision-maker, and not necessarily better outcomes,” he stated in a recent speech.
But he is himself coming under increased scrutiny.
He’s been accused of attempting to “cover up” the true extent of damage inflicted by Iran upon US military facilities and assets in the Middle East.
“I really, to this day, have not heard a credible explanation from the administration as to why they have a policy of denying us access to bases,” says Democrat Senator Chris Murphy.
“This is just very clearly a cover-up. They do not want the American people to understand the damage that’s been done to these bases. They don’t want members of Congress to have the opportunity to directly talk to our military leadership and our troops in the region, because that is where we get the unvarnished truth about what is possible and what is not possible.”