Pete Hegseth Is Closing a Pentagon Office That Wins Wars
Shuttering a department that was vital to victory in the Cold War? That's a great way to lose the battles of tomorrow.
Not looking ahead.
Photographer: Daniel Slim/AFP/Getty Images
Amid the institutional carnage of the first two months of the Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, few Americans will notice the demise of the Office of Net Assessment. That small outfit occupied a nearly windowless space in the Pentagon. Its work was known only to the nerdiest parts of the national security community.
Yet ONA played a large role in helping the US win the Cold War, by sharpening its strategic instincts and making its behavior more lethally competitive. Shuttering the office is an act of self-harm at a moment when hot wars rage in the Europe and the Middle East and a new cold war, against China, is well underway.