Alpha males

Trump and Hegseth

- BY F. S. AIJAZUDDIN

Trump and Hegseth

COMPARISONS can be odious, unless there is a justification. Consider these two examples.

On Sept 30, 2025, President Donald Trump and his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth summoned almost 800 US generals, admirals and senior enlisted officers to the Marine Corps Base Quantico. The civilian duo harangued the uniformed, bemedalled corps — men and women, white and black, bearded and clean-shaven, fit and fat. Gradually, painfully, the top brass of the US armed forces saw their authority undermined in public and their qualifications questioned by persons less qualified than themselves. One wonders what went through their minds as they heard their commander-in-chief and his war secretary strip them of their stripes.

In early 1972, Z.A. Bhutto summoned a group of dispossessed industrialists to Midway House, Karachi. Earlier, overnight, he had nationalised their businesses and industries. He reminded those who had neglected to read his PPP manifesto that he was merely fulfilling an electoral promise to his people. He ended his wounding speech with the condescending sneer: "Give my love to your children."