UNITED KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE

The BBC and The Independent cover the story on two complementary registers. The BBC sticks to dry facts -- Hegseth 'asked' George to leave, according to CBS News, 'the BBC's US partner.' This sourcing caution is quintessentially British: report, don't assert. The Independent pushes further by framing the event squarely in the context of war: 'Pentagon chief removes top uniformed officer as US wages war in Iran.' The juxtaposition is deliberate -- a defense secretary with no military experience ousting a four-star general while troops are deployed. London reads this through the lens of the special relationship: if American command is unstable, the implications for NATO and joint Middle East operations are direct. Britain, which burned its fingers following Washington into Iraq in 2003, knows the price of trusting a dysfunctional American decision-making apparatus. The UK's silence on substance -- no official comment -- is itself a position.