SECRETARY OF DEFENSE Pete Hegseth is under increasing fire for a double-tap strike, first reported by The Intercept in early September, in which the U.S. military killed two survivors of the Trump administration’s initial boat strike in the Caribbean on September 2.
The Washington Post recently reported that Hegseth personally ordered the follow-up attack, giving a spoken order “to kill everybody.” Multiple military legal experts, lawmakers, and now confidential sources within the government who spoke with The Intercept say Hegseth’s actions could result in the entire chain of command being investigated for a war crime or outright murder.
“Those directly involved in the strike could be charged with murder under the UCMJ or federal law,” said Todd Huntley, a former Staff Judge Advocate who served as a legal adviser on Joint Special Operations task forces conducting drone strikes in Afghanistan and elsewhere, using shorthand for the Uniform Code of Military Justice. “This is about as clear of a case being patently illegal that subordinates would probably not be able to successfully use a following-orders defense.”
Even before the USA was kaput, double tapping became typical US strategy under the Obama administration, which makes me even more confident that nobody will face any consequences for this. To try Trump they’d have to try Obama.
Ok, and?
I really don’t understand why people (GOPers mainly, it seems) trot this line out every time there’s the “threat” of a Repub being (gasp) held accountable for something…
We don’t fucking CARE! GOOD! Prosecute the criminals! It doesn’t matter what side they’re on politically!
Some of us don’t hang our hat on individual cults of personality and just want the rules applied equally all the way across. Why is this so difficult to understand?
For some people, their entire world view revolves around “there must be in-groups to protect and out-groups to bind”. That’s it. Everything else is a polite fiction on top of that.
These people are, generally, bad people. Like, a child reading about them in a book would point out that they’re not good.
Many conservatives adhere to this world view.
You don’t care, but the people in power do. That’s the point I was making.
And……. Nothing will happen. As both commentators said and are, depressingly, probably correct.
That’s not how the US establishment rolls. Both sides will protect their man and that will be it.
Yes, bOtH SiDeS BaD!!1
Yes, both sides are in fact bad but that’s not really the point I’m making here. Please work on your reading comprehension.
“reading comprehension” is the standard excuse for those whose MOs have accurately been assessed.
Ah, yes, everyone knows reading comprehension is actually Russian propaganda.
Lol if you weren’t such a third party simp I might have thought that was funny.
If not bad, why let war crimes go unpunished?
Yankistani dumbass.
Thanks for letting us know this extremely valuable feedback. Democrat bad. I am now converted.
I’ve seen this sentiment a lot lately. It’s just a very bad argument.
We aren’t going to type out a list of every US war criminal ever. We are talking about current events and want the active war criminals stopped.
Obviously we should try all war criminals, but let’s stop the war crimes first
That’s not my point. If Democrats seriously attack Trump on this, he’ll hit back by attacking them for supporting Obama, and establishment Democrats won’t throw their man under the bus. Ergo, nothing will happen. Screw Obama, but that’s not the argument I’m making here.
Edit: Aaand there it is.