The alarm bells went off when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has rebranded himself the Secretary of War, came for the military lawyers months ago. But they are still ringing now, and getting louder to the ears of those listening. Concern is growing that the sidelining of proper legal checks on the Pentagon—and the White House—is pushing the U.S. military into making legally dubious, or illegal, decisions in operations. This could then put U.S. soldiers of all levels at risk, as well as