{
  "id": 6511368,
  "title": "Stars and Stripes paper the latest casualty of 'friendly' fire",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/stars-and-stripes-paper-the-latest-casualty-of-friendly-fire-6511368",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-10T01:07:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times-koreatimes",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/opinion/20260910/stars-and-stripes-paper-the-latest-casualty-of-friendly-fire"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Star and Stripes, a venerable government-funded military newspaper, is facing turmoil reminiscent of a standoff during World War II. The controversy centers around the newspaper's editorial independence and a clash between its editor, Pete Hegseth, and a cartoonist.\n\nDuring World War II, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gen. George Patton found themselves at odds over the newspaper's content. Patton was infuriated by a comic strip in the Star and Stripes, \"Willie and Joe,\" which depicted soldiers with beards, poking fun at Patton's crackdown on soldiers with facial hair, known as \"beardos.\"\n\nEisenhower intervened, ordering Patton to leave the cartoonist alone, thereby avoiding a potential jail sentence for the artist. However, there appears to be no one with the same level of authority to give Hegseth a similar directive.\n\nThe current situation at the Star and Stripes highlights the ongoing debate over the newspaper's editorial independence. With no one in a position to intervene on its behalf, the newspaper finds itself at a crossroads, much like it did during the World War II standoff between Eisenhower and Patton.",
  "summary": "Dwight D. Eisenhower and Pete Hegseth, it appears, would not have gotten along well. They almost certainly would have disagreed on one particular military matter — the editorial independence of the venerable Star and Stripes newspaper. As the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and others have recounted in recent days, the latest round of turmoil at the government-funded military…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Stars and Stripes paper the latest casualty of 'friendly' fire",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/stars-and-stripes-paper-the-latest-casualty-of-friendly-fire",
        "published": "2026-09-10T00:57:03.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}