Hegseth’s double tap murder isn’t the hero America likes to think of themselves as

ByMartyn Bradbury

I think Trump could be in for some actual political danger here…

What legal experts say about second US strike on Venezuela boat

Several legal experts have told BBC Verify that the second strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat by the US military was probably illegal, and would likely be considered an extrajudicial killing under international law.

On Monday, the Trump administration confirmed that a follow-up strike on the boat – which has been criticised as a “double tap” – was ordered by US Navy Admiral Frank Bradley with the overall operation having been authorised by War Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Nine people died in the first strike on the vessel and two survivors were left clinging to the burning wreckage when it was struck again, killing them, according to the Washington Post. A US official has said four missiles were used in the operation.

The Trump administration has not denied there were survivors and has insisted the strikes on 2 September were “in accordance with the law of armed conflict”.

…the danger isn’t legal, this entire extrajudicial assassinations on the waves bullshit has always been illegal and the argument about fentanyl smuggling to justify these killings is a joke especially after Trump bizarrely pardoned Honduras’s ex-president drug smuggler last week.

No the danger here is political because Americans like to think of themselves as moral crusaders reigning down Christ’s missiles of judgment.

Blowing up narco terrorists peddling Satans drugs is one thing, blowing up unarmed wounded prisoners who can’t fight is less righteous and anything that dents that sense of inflated sanctimoniousness risks a backlash.

Americans love to tell themselves smug lies and pious falsehoods about who they are, Hegseth’s double tap murder isn’t the hero America likes to think of themselves as.

When you highlight the hypocrisy of a Nation’s character, that Nation turns on the one exposing it.

Hegseth could be in trouble here.

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7 Comments

  1. They won’t ever get any blow-back on these crimes until Americans fix their political system.

  2. The repuglicans have already rooted themselves in all and any elections for the next few years ,,,, even the ‘legal’ Latinos / Hispanic voters who wanted immigration controls / border security are being dragged from their cars and given the ‘show us your papers’ treatment.

    That’s a lot of votes for them they have lost … https://youtu.be/IyDif-I8hX4?t=1449

  3. Hegseth keeps invoking the “fog of war,” which is absurd. This isn’t a war — it’s a one-sided massacre. There’s no more bravery involved than me sitting at home playing Call of Duty.

    It reflects a complete disregard for human life. And even if some of those killed were involved in drug trafficking, many are likely people pushed into it by poverty and circumstances shaped by decades of U.S. intervention and imperialism.

    1. And he doesn’t know what the fog of war actually means.

      It has nothing to do with “accidental” war crimes.

      Let’s see if Winston wants to have a rant about the rules based order and freedom of navigation to Trump.

      Oh, that’s right! He’s a craven piece of shit bootlicker. Nevermind…

  4. The Usa is the Al Capone among nations ,,,, they stoop lower and see things to steal, extort and murder.

    “The administration’s behavior since Monday has been a master class in political dysfunction. Trump, Karoline Leavitt, and especially Hegseth created major political problems both by clumsily throwing troops under the bus at the first sign of scandal, and also by inadvertently giving evidence against themselves at the exact moment they’re facing a destabilizing challenge from Senators like Mark Kelly. How bad is it? Law professors and military analysts struggled to find words.

    “Fucking shameful, and I voted for these guys,” says a former Army officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    “It’s the kind of thing that makes military lawyers’ heads explode,” said Eugene Fiddell, who teaches military justice at Yale.

    “Totally crazy,” added Michel Paradis, an author and human rights lawyer known for representing Guantanamo Bay detainees. “Even if I could come up with some sort of legal theory for why we can start bombing drug boats indiscriminately, you can’t shoot survivors.”
    https://www.racket.news/p/insane-clown-pentagon

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