(LifeSiteNews) — Department of War Chief Information Officer Katie Arrington says peace is the goal of the U.S. military.
Arrington, who serves as the top adviser to the Secretary of War for information management and technology, told LifeSiteNews’ Wade Searle during a press event at the Pentagon that ensuring peace is the backbone of the department’s work when asked about efforts to avoid military conflicts and maintain peace.
“Oh, my gosh, that’s all we do all day, every day,” Arrington told Searle. “The more defense I have, the more capability I build, keeps us out of war.”
This is the strategy of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, she said. “We need more capability to bear more rapidly, more efficiently, less money on the taxpayer, and that is to make sure that we can ensure freedom, and peace, that’s our goal.”
Arrington had stressed that her job is to “make sure everything in our environment is secure” when asked about threats posed by artificial intelligence (AI), which she added are “changing by the day.”
“I want weapons that are highly lethal and I pray that they never have to be used,” she continued. “We really are the department of peace. I believe that if we build enough capability, nobody will want to mess with us, and peace is what we’re after. So, weapons, systems and networks are built with the highest security to make sure that if we have to use it, it’s the worst day.”
She pointed to the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, Operation Midnight Hammer, as a model example of the Pentagon’s work to minimize conflict. “No human life was lost,” Arrington said. “But we took out a country’s nuclear capability. How eloquent and beautiful is that.”
While Arrington framed Midnight Hammer as clearly justified, the bombings have been criticized by Catholics for violating the parameters of a just war.
Philosopher Edward Feser argued in a June 23 blog post that the bombings were not justified because they were “not carried out in response to any act of war on Iran’s part against the United States.”
Similarly, a press release issued by Catholic League executive director C. J. Doyle decried the attacks as “a clear rejection of Christian just war ethics, which places the United States of America in the invidious position of waging an aggressive war against a weaker country, on behalf of the regime change objectives of another regional power.”
In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Dr. Peter Kwasniewski likewise condemned the bombings, saying that “in adopting this mentality, and especially in supporting Israel, the USA ends up multiplying occasions of terror.”
At the same time, LifeSite journalist Frank Wright has argued that President Donald Trump carried out the strikes as a means of giving Americans and Israelis an “off ramp” from all-out war.
“The U.S. strikes last weekend did not destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities,” he noted. “After the strikes, Trump declared victory – and then peace … then a ceasefire.”
Department of War Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told Searle that since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, commanders have been “rooting out” what she said were many service members who celebrated his death.
“You sign up to protect your fellow Americans. If you’re celebrating the assassination of one of your fellow Americans, how can you be entrusted to protect that person should they ever need it?” Wilson said.
“So we took those comments very seriously … that’s a security issue,” she continued, adding that the penalty inflicted for the celebration of Kirk’s death is “up to their commanders, respectively.”
Asked about whether American Catholics considering military service under current Pentagon leadership could be assured their values would be respected, Wilson said, “Under this Secretary, absolutely.”
“Unfortunately, I think a lot of people distrust our institutions, and rightfully so. When Republicans and Democrats were in charge in the past I think were captured by a lot of uni-party interests and weren’t focused on the best thing for the American people, they certainly weren’t focused on America first. You saw them putting a lot of other nations’ security before their own nation.”
In fact, the military under the Biden administration went so far as to target Christian conservatives who believe that gender is simply and objectively biological, as former Army Special Operations psychological warfare officer Emily Rainey previously told LifeSiteNews. She called the efforts a “slow purification process.”
Wilson suggested to Searle that the military leadership’s attitude toward retainment and recruitment has transformed under Trump’s second administration.
“Now we have a Secretary of War who’s 100% committed to America First. He’s a strong, devout Christian himself and is really ensuring that our war fighters are able to get back to war fighting.”
“If you sign up for the military, you want to be lethal. You want to be fit. You don’t want to be forced to attend a drag queen story time on a Navy ship. So we’re going to get back to those basics and make sure that being a warrior is our founding ethos.”
