Probably because it's 'political' news — but I don't think this is political as such. The Pentagon is (or should be) an inherently non-political government agency. @dang curious on your thoughts here though.
It's completely intertwined to current United States politics and, I understand the hypocrisy of this statement as I'm commenting on it, doesn't really bring out meaningful discussions. The same arguments are made by both sides over and over again. I flagged it because, to me, the discussion is better suited somewhere else.
Politics has always been a lame excuse. If there's an article shitting on California's politics, it doesn't get flagged and there is no talk about "no politics on HN". Just tons of "California Bad" posts. If there's an article praising something political in Austin, TX. Same thing. No complaints about politics. Lots of posts about "California Bad". It's almost like the problem isn't politics. But the "politics" a certain segment of HN doesn't like.