General Hertling Flirts with Disloyalty and a Legacy of Shame

Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling is no lightweight. A 38-year Army veteran, he commanded U.S. forces in Europe, led troops in Desert Storm and the Iraq War, and earned a reputation as a straight-shooting officer who rose through the ranks on merit.

But somewhere between retirement and the bright lights of cable news, those stars on his shoulders have dimmed. In his frequent appearances on MS NOW and across other left-leaning media outlets, Hertling has unleashed a relentless barrage against President Trump’s military campaigns and how they are carried out. Hartling’s harshest criticisms involve Iran — and the battlefield orders he alleges are being issued by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Although he has been critical even of Trump’s successful Venezuelan action.

Former military leaders have long honored an unwritten code — once the uniform comes off, one does not play armchair general. One does not publicly trash ongoing operations or undermine the chain of command. One does not Monday-morning-quarterback the commander-in-chief while American lives are on the line.

A handful of retired officers have dipped their toes into inappropriate partisan criticism before—such as retired General Barry McCaffrey and others who could not resist the siren call of the cameras. But none have plunged into the depths of outrageous conduct quite like Hertling. His commentary does not merely stray from tradition. It shatters it.

What makes Hertling’s comments so toxic is how far they venture beyond legitimate analysis into outright propaganda that could have been scripted in Tehran. He has repeatedly branded America’s actions as war crimes – and intended war crimes. Hertling seized on Secretary Hegseth’s campaign against Venezuelan drug-runners and his announcement that they will “give no quarter” to enemies to intimate that the United States was committing war crimes – disparaging America’s reputations among allies and adversaries alike. Hertling has also condemned strikes on Iranian power plants and civilian infrastructure as violations of the laws of war – even though they never happened.

Hertling proposed disobedience to hypothetical illegal orders saying When they start giving unlawful orders, you find a way to push back on them… I would say I’m not doing it as the commander.” This implies that illegal orders are being giving – and that military personnel down the line would be able to determine the legality of an order. That is a cheap shot since the military has an official review process to make sure all actions comply with the rules of war – as Joint Chief-of-Staff General Dan Caine has explained on several occasions. Hertling’s statements and implications are malicious slander.

Hertling does not stop at accusing the Pentagon of criminality. He labels the entire operation an illegal adventure. “We have invaded another country,” he intoned – as if there was no provocation or justification. He frames Trump’s response as a baseless “war of choice” with “no justification whatsoever.” Never mind the 47-year trail of Iranian bloodshed and aggression—the embassy hostage crisis, the Beirut barracks bombing, proxy attacks that have killed and maimed American service members, the funding of Hamas and Hezbollah, Tehran’s relentless nuclear ambitions and the longstanding official “death to America” policy of the Iranian regime. Those inconvenient facts simply vanish when Hertling takes the microphone.

Even more alarming is his defeatist drumbeat on the battlefield itself. Hertling insists America is losing ground and has no path to victory. “We haven’t obliterated Iran’s capabilities… ridiculous to say,” he scoffed. “We can’t kill our way out of this,” he proclaims. His morale-crushing prediction of the outcome is more than a mistaken opinion. It is baseless disinformation. Hertling argues that “The best condition we can get out of this particular conflict is a draw. There is no win-win, there’s no win-lose. There’s going to be a draw.” More music to the mullahs’ ears.

That kind of talk is not analysis—it appeasement and capitulation in slow motion. It tells the enemy to hang in there because America lacks the moral high ground – both the ability and the will to fight. At home, it chips away at public support for the troops. Let us be very clear. Hertling is aiding and abetting America’s existential enemies – spinning the war analysis to Tehran’s advantage. They could not have a more effective American advocate if they were paying him.

This is not principled critique born of military expertise. It is unbridled Trump-hatred behind a general’s uniform. Hertling’s campaign does not just break with tradition. It raises profound questions about his loyalty to the United States in a time of war — and to the very military he once served. His rhetoric flirts dangerously close to sedition—personally declaring the war to be illegal, characterizing it by American war crimes, stating that Iran is not an imminent threat and determining that Iran is winning and will ultimately win. In generations past, such talk would have landed a man in handcuffs – or worse. Unfortunately, accountability for this brand of treachery is sadly out of fashion in today’s soft culture. Consequently, Hertling will face no formal reckoning.

But he should face something more enduring — the shame and dishonor of his former colleagues in the Pentagon and the soldiers and sailors currently in the fight. The outrage of the American public. America deserves better than a retired general who has chosen cable-news notoriety over fidelity to the country. The Hertling name should live in infamy—not because he opposes Trump’s political policies, but because he has gone far beyond civic dialogue and free speech. He betrayed the uniform he once wore with pride and the country he once served with distinction. General Hertling is a disgrace.

So, there ‘tis.