Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all

[reACTIONary]

Source: WaPo, No Paywall, Registration Required

As two men clung to a stricken, burning ship targeted by SEAL Team 6, the Joint Special Operations commander followed the defense secretary’s order to leave no survivors.

The alleged traffickers pose no imminent threat of attack against the United States and are not, as the Trump administration has tried to argue, in an “armed conflict” with the U.S., these officials and experts say. Because there is no legitimate war between the two sides, killing any of the men in the boats “amounts to murder,” said Todd Huntley, a former military lawyer who advised Special Operations forces for seven years at the height of the U.S. counterterrorism campaign.

Even if the U.S. were at war with the traffickers, an order to kill all the boat’s occupants if they were no longer able to fight “would in essence be an order to show no quarter, which would be a war crime,” said Huntley, now director of the national security law program at Georgetown Law.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts), a Marine Corps veteran and vocal Trump critic who received a classified briefing from Pentagon officials on the strikes in late October with other members of the House Armed Services Committee said, “Mark my words: It may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this, either as a war crime or outright murder.”

Read more: https://wapo.st/49KbUJ1

[sueh]

1. So fucking cruel. He and Trump just horrible human beings.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

2. Hegseth is sick

[mcar]

3. Crimes against humanity

[GB_RN]

38. At Least!

The killing of survivors of torpedoed/sunken enemy ships was a war crime in WW2. Ask the Nazi’s Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, Kapitänleutnant Heinz Eck, and Korvettenkapitän Karl-Heinz Moehle.

Kapitänleutnant Heinz Eck was sentenced to death for his crimes…

“I was just following orders,” won’t get you far in a war crimes trial…

[Sedona]

4. Has to be the Hague

TSF will just pardon anyone he can.

[drray23]

5. I really doubt prosecutions will ever happen.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts), a Marine Corps veteran and vocal Trump critic who received a classified briefing from Pentagon officials on the strikes in late October with other members of the House Armed Services Committee said, “Mark my words: It may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this, either as a war crime or outright murder.”

I do not believe for a second our country will do the right thing after we wrestle control of it back from Trump and MAGATS. There will be so much stuff to do to rebuild it that this will be very low in the priority list. Dozens of people will get away for war crimes, corruption and other crimes.

[Hugin]

6. Kegsbreath doing what Nazis did is not at all surprising.

There’s no justification possible for an action such as this. I am going to guess that some, such as Kelly were aware of it and that’s why they made the video. Tantrum Tito and Kegsbreath’s subsequent actions were trying to get out in front of it because they knew it was eventually going to come out.

I doubt this was an isolated incident. There were reports of survivors on subsequent strikes being picked up and whisked off. What is their status?

[BattleRow]

15. How can they defend the indefensible?

[popsdenver]

37. Time to reconvene

The Nuremberg Court and trials.........

I guess those SEAL TEAM SIX members thought it was a LAWFUL ORDER/????? BULLSHIT
My opinion of the U.S. Navy Seals has now hit the bottom of the barrel............

All of those involved in the U.S. Navy who participated in any of this, should be court marshaled,
And Trump, His CABAL, Republican Senators, and Republican House Members as well as the Republicans on the U.S. Supreme Court should all be rounded up and sent to the Hague.....

And all of them, all the way up to Trump can't use the excuse 'I was just following orders".....all the NAZI's tried claiming that........and it didn't work.......

[D. Spaulding]

7. That link is still behind a paywall;

anyone have one where the article can be read?

[Ms. Toad]

9. It's not behind a paywall.

But it does require a free account.

Go to archive.li and paste the URL and it will let you see it without providing an email address.

[IronLionZion]

10. Archive link

https://archive.ph/Dnq8a

You can plug any URL into this site and see if it has been archived, or create an archive.

[reACTIONary]

16. It requires registration, not monitary payment.....

... this sort or enterprise investigative reporting not only is costly, it is increasingly risky and dangerous. Give them some support and sign up for a "free" account.

[IronLionZion]

8. Some day we may have Nuremburg style trials for these A-holes

[Justice matters.]

48. May, indeed.

Will it be the same as in the past 25 years with the "looking forward, not backward" excuse for doing nothing again?

Candidates running for office should be asked specifically about that and be held accountable if not delivered.

[Irish_Dem]

11. We are not at war, to kill the survivors of the boat bombings is horrific.

This is first degree murder.

[reACTIONary]

17. Let alone to bomb it at all.

[Irish_Dem]

18. The US military is guilty of murdering innocent civilians.

[GB_RN]

39. In This Case...

While it probably can’t be tried as a war crime, I’m betting it could go down as a “crime against humanity” or “crime against peace” (if the latter is still used).

[Irish_Dem]

54. It is called murder, considered a crime everywhere.

[GB_RN]

57. Umm...

I never said it wasn’t; that was never in dispute. In fact, I’m pretty sure that amongst the thinking portion of the US population, it’s a given that this was murder.

War crimes and crimes against humanity/peace are the biggest charges faced by the Nazi leadership and Japanese high command after World War II. A portion of the definition:

“A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostages, unnecessarily destroying civilian property…”

Emphasis added.

[Bayard]

12. Is there video, or will this be heresay? Who reported this?

"Just following orders," is not going to get it. I'm glad Sen. Kelly and company made their video.

[reACTIONary]

24. There were many sources for the full story

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken directive, according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation. “The order was to kill everybody,” one of them said.

The elite counterterror group SEAL Team 6 led the attack, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing sensitive operations.

SEAL Team 6, known formally as Naval Special Warfare Development Group and under JSOC command, conducted the intelligence collection and targeting for this attack and several others, according to two people.

If the video of the blast that killed the two survivors on Sept. 2 were made public, people would be horrified, said one person who watched the live feed.

In briefing materials provided to the White House, JSOC reported that the “double-tap,” or follow-on strike, was intended to sink the boat and remove a navigation hazard to other vessels — not to kill survivors, according to another person who saw the report.

In subsequent strikes on alleged traffickers that left no survivors, the U.S. military has also fired multiple missiles to remove boats from the waterways, several people familiar with the matter said.

[Bayard]

46. There is video then

That needs to be leaked forthwith. Thanks for this info.

[Justice matters.]

49. Covering up another My Lai style massacre huh...

Less victims but still a similar cover up attempt with lies?

[El Mimbreno]

13. So does military training...

include removal of moral judgement?

[lapfog_1]

14. I am not a military lawyer

but EVEN if these men were legitimate enemy combatants and HAD fired on US Navy forces before their boat was blown up...

I think it is still a war crime to execute them while they are holding onto pieces of their blown up boat.

[Fil1957]

19. Glad this incident is getting attention, but the truth is EVERY SINGLE ATTACK off the coast of Venezuela is murder and a

war crime. Even the destruction of the submarine which likely WAS transporting drugs is murder and a war crime.

Hope he and the other sick bastards responsible for these crimes get serious prison time. It's the only way this murderous madness is going to stop.

[Attilatheblond]

26. If Venezula fight back, Trump gets his war

Just like abusing people in the US until somebody fights back and he declares it's an insurrection and gets him magic powers to just kill people.

The GOP better face reality and impeach/convict the lot of this administration NOW.

[Mr. Evil]

20. Why is it

when someone is given a title or position of power, usually one of the first things they do is inflict pain and suffering. In Kegsbreath's case... death. Why? History has borne this out. When was the last time anyone was given a title or position of power and they immediately began to do great beneficial things? One thing I've learned is that you never give a drunk and/or rapist a position of power.

This is our Secretary of Defense.

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA1w2pu7.img?w=1200&h=675&m=4&q=89

[ZDU]

25. Obama

Did good things. I believe Biden did too.

[Gimpyknee]

21. I hope Representative Moultan words come true.

[ZDU]

22. Hegseth, War Criminal

[Attilatheblond]

23. So, Hegseth is SO desperate to keep his job he will order military to commit murder to give Trump a boner?

And the military is OK with this? Blackest day for the US in a very long time.

Off to the Hague for the lot of them!

[Aviation Pro]

27. And there it is

Murder charges and no immunity for you, you tabless, fucking, failed infantry officer.

And I wouldn’t count on a pardon from the Couch Fucker after the fucking pedophile goes horizontal.

[Norrrm]

28. We have plenty of military muscle to capture these boats without killing all on board and destroying all evidence.... If

We have plenty of military muscle to capture these boats without killing all on board and destroying all evidence.... If evidence of the drugs exists.

[Blues Heron]

29. Illegal order, should have disobeyed

[sheshe2]

30. "Mark my words: It may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this

Aaron Rupar
@atrupar.com‬
“Mark my words: It may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this, either as a war crime or outright murder.”

“Mark my words: It may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this, either as a war crime or outright murder.”

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-11-28T20:37:21.795Z

[Evolve Dammit]

31. Hope he has a date with the Hague. Traitor to the Constitution. Congress?

[red dog 1]

32. Cold blooded murder!

Cold blooded murder.

— Just Jack (@just-jack-1.bsky.social) 2025-11-28T23:17:22.118Z

[NH Ethylene]

33. Everyone down the line can be subject to prosecution

For following illegal orders.

[Evolve Dammit]

34. sounds like murder. Sadly military has historically had very few ramifications for these "actions."

[Justice matters.]

50. Yep. My Lai, South Vietnam (at the time). nt

[Wiz Imp]

35. It may not technically be able to be designated as a "war crime"

But it absolutely a Crime Against Humanity.

[reACTIONary]

42. War crimes are technically within scope....

From the article.....

Even if the U.S. were at war with the traffickers, an order to kill all the boat’s occupants if they were no longer able to fight “would in essence be an order to show no quarter, which would be a war crime,” said Huntley, now director of the national security law program at Georgetown Law.

[Wiz Imp]

44. How does that apply?

It says "Even if the U.S. were at war with the traffickers...would be a war crime". But the US isn't at war with Venezuela or anyone else whose boats they are blowing up. This is not "armed conflict", It's the US carrying out a massacre of possibly innocent people with no proof that they have done anything wrong. the US is simply attacking boats unprovoked who are not fighting back. It's not clear to me if international courts would call it a war crime , but it is definitely a crime against humanity.

[red dog 1]

36. "Premeditated Murder"

That should be considered a War Crime.
https://democraticunderground.com/100220836027

[angrychair]

40. Nope

It's naive to think there is such a thing as "justice" anymore. Only the poor and disenfranchised face "justice". The wealthy and entitled just get pardons and wealth and power.

[karynnj]

41. The only way anyone would be held accountable is if Trump, saying he was not involved,

fired and tried Hegseth.

This would have to become a much bigger, more negative story than it is now ... But should be. Trump will throw anyone under a buss if he is threatened.

[bluedigger]

43. Dead men tell no tales.

There will be no first person testimony in the Hague.

[AdamGG]

45. Straight up war crimes

Drug smuggling isn't a capital offense and there's no evidence that they're even doing that. Kegsbreath and some others need to end up on trial in the Hague.

[Uncle Joe]

47. Kicked and recommended

Thanks for the thread reACTIONary

[reACTIONary]

55. You are welcome Uncle Joe!

[DFW]

51. If they killed one crew member, they HAD to kill them all

Since they obviously did NOT have concrete proof the everyone on board was a drug trafficker, in case that it turned out that they killed innocent people, even Hegseth must have known that he could be brought in chains to The Hague and jailed for life. Witnesses who can talk represent a mortal danger to everyone involved, from the actual shooters on up to the one who gave the order.

[EuterpeThelo]

52. SEAL Team 6

Wasn't it that team that took out OBL?

How far they have fallen to be participating in this blatantly criminal behavior. I weep for our country.

[DemMedic]

53. They think this is a movie...

and if it was, they would be the bad guys.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

56. Hegseth is a war criminal/mass murderer