It is no small irony that Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. Our peacetime military is a wartime military. This allows them to be aggressive vs. being passive. It gives them cover to be warring against anyone that they choose. For example, they attacked Venezuelan “drug runners” and blew them out of the water.

Positioning our military as aggressive and warring opens doors to target whomever they determine is oppositional to the U.S., even individuals within the U.S. Trump and Hegseth now have a cover to target Americans for their behavior.

ICE is a “policing” force that targets individuals across the country. Its agents show up at schools, in parking lots, in unmarked black vans and hustle whomever they target to an undisclosed location. They wear badges, protective armor and masks. 

To quote a line from Butch Cassidy, “Just who are those guys?” Are they from our neighborhood? From the state of Maine? Are they imported from national training centers? Who gives them their orders? Trump, Hegseth or Stephen Miller? ICE’s primary purpose is to support Trump and Miller’s million deportees per year goal. Does it matter who they arrest, relocate or separate from their families?

When they show up in unmarked cars, armed, wearing masks and police badges, they project fear into our communities. Who is feeding them their information and who is choosing their target? Is this just another cover for having a Department of War?

David Hyde
Pownal