{"id":13981,"date":"2025-12-02T18:19:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T10:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=13981"},"modified":"2025-12-02T18:19:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T10:19:28","slug":"pressure-grows-on-hegseth-amid-boat-strike-fallout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=13981","title":{"rendered":"Pressure grows on Hegseth amid boat strike fallout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing growing pressure over a Washington Post report that he ordered the military to \u201ckill everybody\u201d in a boat strike in the Caribbean, with Democrats alleging a potential war crime and President Trump saying he wouldn\u2019t have ordered a second strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Post reported Friday that Hegseth issued an order to \u201ckill everybody\u201d before the first strike against an alleged drug-trafficking boat on Sept. 2. The first strike did not immediately kill all 11 people, whom the administration has called \u201cnarco-terrorists,\u201d aboard the vessel, prompting the Special Operations commander overseeing the operation to order another strike to comply with Hegseth\u2019s directive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The White House confirmed on Monday that Hegseth authorized the second attack and defended the legality of the ongoing strikes, which have killed at least 83 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith respect to the strikes in question on Sept. 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Adm. Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,\u201d Leavitt told reporters, referring to Adm. Frank M. \u201cMitch\u201d Bradley, the commander overseeing the operation from Fort Bragg, N.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdm. 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,\u201d Leavitt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth backed up Bradley on Monday evening, proclaiming the U.S. is \u201cfortunate to have such men protecting us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdmiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional and has my 100 percent support,\u201d Hegseth wrote on social media. \u201cI stand by him and the combat decisions he has made \u2014 on the September 2 mission and all others since.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On Sunday, Trump expressed confidence in Hegseth, although he noted that he would not have ordered a second strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut no, I wouldn\u2019t have wanted that, not a second strike,\u201d the president told reporters aboard Air Force One. \u201cThe first strike was very lethal, it was fine, and if there were two people around. But Pete said that didn\u2019t happen. I have great confidence in him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new details regarding the Sept. 2 strikes, which the Trump administration said killed members of Tren de Aragua, a transnational gang from Venezuela that the U.S. has designated a foreign terrorist organization, prompted bipartisan uproar over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several Democrats and at least one Republican, Rep. Mike Turner (Ohio), a former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said the strike was a possible crime. The Republican chairs of the House and Senate Armed Services committees said they are looking to conduct oversight of the strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cObviously if that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that that would be an illegal act,\u201d Turner said on Sunday while on CBS\u2019s \u201cFace the Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration has asserted that the U.S. is in a \u201cnon-international armed conflict\u201d (NIAC) with \u201cdesignated terrorist organizations,\u201d as backed up by a classified opinion authored by the Justice Department\u2019s Office of Legal Counsel, which argues that because U.S. troops participating in the strikes are taking orders that are in line with the laws of war, they cannot be prosecuted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut \u2018NIAC\u2019 is a legal term of art which requires certain facts that are not met here,\u201d said Sarah Harrison, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. \u201cThat means the law of war is not applicable and thus these are not war crimes, but rather murders or extrajudicial killings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrison, who is a former associate general counsel at the Department of Defense (DOD), argued what is \u201cdistinctly disturbing\u201d about the Sept. 2 strikes is that even with the U.S. not being engaged in a war with drug traffickers, the DOD is \u201coperating under the assumption\u201d that it is and is \u201cclaiming it is applying the law of war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut every officer and enlisted is trained to know that it is a textbook war crime to execute individuals who are \u2018hors de combat\u2019 or \u2018out of the fight,\u2019\u201d Harrison told The Hill on Monday. \u201cThat no one down the chain of command refused this patently illegal order is shocking and sheds more light on the breakdown of the rule of law within DOD under the leadership of Secretary Hegseth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth has bashed the Post\u2019s article and joked on Sunday about the mounting scrutiny he faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But over the weekend, the Pentagon chief spoke to members of Congress who \u201cmay have expressed some concerns\u201d over the Sept. 2 operations in the Caribbean, Leavitt said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Dan Caine addressed the situation with the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services committees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caine\u2019s discussion with the lawmakers \u201ccentered on counter-narcoterrorism operations in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility\u201d and addressed \u201cthe intent and legality of missions to disrupt illicit trafficking networks which threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere,\u201d the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Monday in a statement, adding that Caine \u201creiterated his trust and confidence in the experienced commanders at every echelon and his pride in those serving in the Joint Force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since their start in early September, the Trump administration\u2019s boat strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have prompted concerns from Democrats and some Republicans about the legal rationale for the attacks and the way the military is identifying targets in speed boats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of Trump\u2019s allies on Capitol Hill have defended the administration\u2019s conduct during the Sept. 2 operations, arguing the military is relying on sound legal justification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cForeign terrorist organizations have been legitimate targets of kinetic strikes for decades, across administrations of both parties,\u201d Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), a former Navy SEAL officer who sits on the Senate Armed Services panel, said Monday on the social platform X. \u201cThe strikes in question are consistent with both the law of armed conflict and with the precedent set by our systematic targeting of terrorist operatives across the globe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harrison, of the International Crisis Group, argued that all of the Trump administration\u2019s boat strikes since early September \u201cimplicate murder statutes and violate the prohibition on extrajudicial killings under international law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause of that, every time U.S. service members execute more alleged traffickers, who are civilians and innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, they put themselves at risk of criminal liability at home and abroad,\u201d she said Monday. \u201cThat risk extends indefinitely given the crime of murder typically does not have a statute of limitations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The backlash over the boat strikes comes as the Trump administration has established a massive military presence in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, in the vicinity of Venezuela, deploying more than a dozen warships, F-35 fighter jets, Marines and spy planes. Meanwhile, Trump and other U.S. officials have ramped up the pressure against Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, whom they have deemed an \u201cillegitimate leader.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump was expected to meet with his national security team, including Hegseth, Caine and Secretary of State Marco Rubio \u2014 who also serves as national security adviser \u2014 in the Oval Office on Monday to discuss the situation in Venezuela and other matters, Leavitt confirmed on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked if the commander in chief is considering putting U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela, the press secretary said there are \u201cmany options\u201d at Trump\u2019s disposal that he is considering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president confirmed Sunday that he recently spoke with Maduro, but declined to elaborate on how the conversation went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it went well or badly, it was a phone call,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing growing pressure over a Washington Post report that he ordered the military to \u201ckill everybody\u201d in a boat strike in the Caribbean, with Democrats alleging a potential war crime and President Trump saying he wouldn\u2019t have ordered a second strike. The Post reported Friday that Hegseth issued an order […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1906,2914,1728],"class_list":["post-13981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-he","tag-hegseth","tag-strike"],"yoast_head":"\nPressure grows on Hegseth amid boat strike fallout - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=13981\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pressure grows on Hegseth amid boat strike fallout - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing growing pressure over a Washington Post report that he ordered the military to \u201ckill everybody\u201d in a boat strike in the Caribbean, with Democrats alleging a potential war crime and President Trump saying he wouldn\u2019t have ordered a second strike. 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