Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth might have committed a war crime stemming from a fatal attack on an alleged drug boat that took place on September 2nd.
Beginning in August, the US Navy has been conducting strikes on suspected small vessels off the coast of Venezuela. The increased actitivy is the result of an initiative by President Trump to target what he characterizes as narco terrorists. 80 people have been killed so far in the operation.
In the September 2nd incident, two missiles were fired at the small vessel that had 11 occupants on board. The first missile blew the boat apart. According to reporting, video showed two survivors clinging to wreckage.
Today, the White House confirmed that Hegseth authorized a second follow up strike and per reporting, ordered personnel to “kill everybody.”
Strikes such as this are often conducted with secure live streams where people up the chain of command are monitoring events. In an interview, Trump said he would not have ordered the second strike.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Hegseth authorized theatre commander Adm. Frank Bradley to carry out the second strike. In what appears to be an effort to shift responsibility away from Hegseth, she said, “Adm. Bradley worked well within his authority and the law to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.”
The UCMJ explicitly prohibits the killing of unarmed non combatants. Two people clinging to the wreckage of a boat are not combatants. Intentional killing of civilians regardless of whether or not they are involved in the illegal transport of drugs, is against the UCMJ and inconsistent with how our professional military has operated. The actions here can be construed as a war crime. Many veterans have characterized Hegseth’s order as unlawful and such a direction should not have been followed.
Representative Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) said, “We should get to the truth. I don’t think he would be foolish enough to make this decision to say, kill everybody, kill the survivors, ’cause that’s a clear violation of the law of war.”
Members of both parties serving on the Senate and House Armed Services Committees are seeking a full accounting of the events. Hearings are likely to come.