It’s Pretty Simple

To me, it is pretty simple. If Hegseth did not give the command to kill everybody on the “drug boats”, then someone else, like Admiral Bradley did. Is Hegseth not guilty of this? Fine, then he should bring charges against Bradley, or whoever gave the order, and potentially, the person who pulled the trigger.

I do not think this one is going away. In the “war” on the drug boats off the coast of Venezuela, we seem to have moved to another level. Blowing drug boats out of the water because they are narcoterrorists? OK. Maybe. Going back and taking a second shot to kill survivors in the water hanging on to the remnants of the boat you just destroyed? Tell me where that is legal, please. In fact, our own military legal code would seem to say it is illegal:

And this is nothing new. You can go back as far as our own Civil War, as seen in this guidance from 1863.

Now, I am not a lawyer. And, when in the military, I was in the Signal Corps, not the Infantry. But even to a Veteran and dumb ol’ American like me, it would appear someone has some explaining to do. 

It is worth noting that President Trump is backing away from the situation. 

 If Secretary Hegseth never gave the “Kill everybody” order, then who decided to go back for a second attack on the ship and kill the survivors? If Hegseth is not guilty, then someone else is. Is it a war crime? Is it murder? I don’t know, but I think the Secretary would want to ensure nothing illegal is going on. Maybe that is just me.

Addendum:

The photos of the Civil War 1863 Lieber Code and the Law of War manual code 18.2.2.1 were taken from the Status Kuo blog, by Jay Kuo.