18h ago

White House throws commanding admiral under the bus in killing of alleged drug boat survivors

www.huffpost.com

White House Throws Commanding Admiral Under The Bus In Killing Of Alleged Drug Boat Survivors

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed the apparent war crime was legal even as she said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth knew nothing about it.

The White House on Monday shifted the blame for killing the survivors of a U.S. military strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and onto the commanding admiral.

Killing survivors of a destroyed vessel is literally an example of a war crime in the U.S. Department of Defense Law of War Manual. “For example, orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal,” the manual reads.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt, nevertheless, repeatedly stated that it was legal – even as she further claimed, as Donald Trump did Sunday, that Hegseth was unaware that it had happened.

49 comments

Can it be a war crime if you’re not actually at war? Seems like it’s just murder.
- Don't need to be at war to commit "war crimes"
Follow illegal orders, get thrown under the bus.
Dont follow illegal orders, get thrown under the bus.
- you know I'm starting to think that maybe they should just deal with the people giving the orders
  
  That's very uncommon for brainwashed crowd called "military" to do so.
- Its probably best to distance from the MAGA insanity if at all possible.
- Stop the bus
I can’t believe it was Joe Biden that flew the plane.
- I heard Obama told him too
  
  Hillary coordinated it all from email!
  
  Pretty sure Obama was the weapons specialist on board… gees.
As was said elsewhere, the transmitted command will have been recorded. The hard undeniable truth can be provided. Congress just needs to subpoena it, or a soldier with a conscience needs to whistleblow and leak it. Otherwise, we trust the liars' word and they get away with yet more of what are unquestionably, objectively, war crimes.
Oh look, exactly what Mark Kelly was talking about. Shit rolls down hill guys. Remember that when someone orders you to murder people.
- The top brass who aren't full on MAGA, but didn't leave now have clear proof that they are expendable and will be scapegoated to protect Trump and his croneys. Honestly showing their hand at this stage gives me a lot of hope that any coup won't happen now and resistance will be strengthened from within. I smell leaks coming!
- I just followed the orders.
So we went from denial, to it happened but it wasn't us...
- The Narcissist’s Prayer:
  That didn't happen.
  And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
  And if it was, that's not a big deal.
  And if it is, that's not my fault. <— we are here
  And if it was, I didn't mean it.
  And if I did, you deserved it.
- I think we're currently in the phase where it's rapidly undulating between both takes.
  Give it another week and it'll devolve into "what firing on shipwrecked people? What are you talking about? Lalalala, I can't hear you!"
  
  When do we enter the phase that no boat was even destroyed that day?
We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.
Pete Hegseth [Source]
- warfighters
  I fucking hate the way this LARPer talks about armed forces
  
  What do you expect? The man is a washed-up talk show host and a drunk. He is by no means the only completely unsuitable buffoon in this incompetent, criminal administration.
  Just for comparison: the Secretary of Education, Lisa McMahon, is a former wrestling promoter (Vince McMahon's wife), and the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is a conspiracy theorist and anti-vaccination advocate - not to mention the president.
  All of this is so ridiculous that it would be funny if it weren't costing so many lives...
- He's an idiot
  
  Indeed, and a murderer
As a sailor, I find the whole shoddy affair most disgusting.
Yes in war (and this was by no means a war) we may seek to kill one another as enemies, but every sailor knows, it is the sea who is the ultimate enemy.
A human adrift at sea is a pitiful thing. To save them is to save ourselves.
- Even in WWII, the German Navy refused Hitler's illegal orders and outright saved or radioed the location of boats they sunk and survivors in the water, even to the peril of their crew stealth. It pissed Hitler off early in the war.
  
  Captain Zur See Hans Langsdorff of the Graf Spee was famous for this. It did eventually cost him his ship though he saved the majority of his crew along with any Allied prisoners he had aboard.
  The German submarine fleet, on the other hand, was less inclined to do this primarily due to the nature of the submarine as a weapon. Though there were exceptions.
Kill. Them. All.
And I don't mean boat.
- "Burn. Them. All." , Hegseth
  Mad King Aerys II vibes.
And this is one of the many, many good reasons why one does not comply with illegal orders, damn it!
- Ah, yes the most upstanding army that didn't comply to illegal orders in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria et al.
  The fuck you guys smoking?
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragging
  A proud American tradition
  
  That just underscores the point I made.
As they should. But the fact that he chose to follow an obviously illegal order, doesn't absolve the ones who gave that order. This should in no way, take the heat off Hegseth...or Trump himself.
First of all, blowing up a boat like is illegal. Even if it was legal you'll have to prove that the boat contained drugs, but you just blowed your evidences! The guys that survived the attack then would have no charges over them and would be set free. Probably these guys were innocent and the boat was not a drug boat, thus they killed them as a cover up
It was LEGAL but ALSO Pete Hegseth DIDNT know about it AND we Fired someone Over it!
Hmm, I wonder why Admiral Holsey decided to retire when he did. 🤔
If he ordered it, or complied with the order from above, lock him up. If not, this accusation is yet another confession.
- Time to make this witness cooperative.
Gotta keep those trains running on time.
Technicality question. Doesn't the sec def make the rules for the manual. Like he can just change them on a whim. And the manual isn't law, congress didn't vote on it right? So it might technically be legal under US law. Though I doubt the airhead knows anything about that. As for war crimes and such... the US has been killing whoever it wants for a long time now. But... throwing the admiral under the bus... that could have real consequences that I can't wait to see.
- The manual is the interpretation of the meaning of existing laws. Its not new law and changing the manual doesn't change the law. And neither Hesgeth or Trump have the authority to change those laws just because they want to.
  
  So I looked it up. The DoD owns the manual. They can change it if they want. And it is an interpretation of international law. So technically, what was done is legal per US law. International law is pretty sketchy. Since it lacks robust enforcement, it pretty much means nothing unless a world power decides it does. So she may technically be right on that one. But of course the question shouldn't be if it was legal. It should be was it "right". Which it most certainly was not.

49 comments