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   From: x@y.com   
      
   Powerful Republican Turns on Pentagon Pete's 'Kill' Orders   
      
   Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's alleged order to "kill" everyone aboard   
   a suspected Venezuelan drug boat is slated to face intense oversight by the   
   Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee.   
      
   SASC chair Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and SASC member   
   Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, released a joint statement Friday   
   promising "vigorous oversight" into the facts regarding a Sept. 2 drug boat   
   strike in which the U. S. killed everyone aboard a suspected narcotics   
   vessel, then killed the two survivors of its first attack with another   
   missile.   
   Roger Wicker and Jack Reed   
   Roger Wicker (left) and Jack Reed (right) promised "vigorous oversight"   
   into Pete Hegseth's "Kill them all" order. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images   
      
   "The committee is aware of recent news reports—and the Department of   
   Defense's initial response—regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected   
   narcotics vessels in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility, " reads the   
   statement.   
      
   "The Committee has directed inquiries to the Department, and we will be   
   conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these   
   circumstances. "   
   SASC Statement promising vigorous oversight into Hegseth's drug boat   
   strikes.   
   The SASC's statement promising "vigorous oversight" into Pete Hegseth's   
   boat strikes. Senate Armed Services Committee   
      
   On Friday, the Washington Post reported that on Sept. 2, Pete Hegseth   
   ordered that the U. S. military kill everyone on board a boat suspected of   
   carrying narcotics off the coast of Trinidad.   
      
   A missile struck the vessel and killed nine of the eleven people aboard the   
   ship. When the Special Operations commander overseeing the attack realized   
   there were two survivors in the water, he fired a second shot to comply   
   with Hegseth's order, killing the remaining survivors.   
      
   The order may amount to a war crime—and therefore punishable by a fine,   
   imprisonment, or death, per the U. S. 's definition of war crimes, which   
   can apply to U. S. nationals and armed service members.   
      
   Todd Huntley, a former military lawyer, told the Post that the attack   
   "amounts to murder, " because Venezuela and the U. S. are not in an armed   
   conflict.   
      
   The order to kill everyone on board "would in essence be an order to show   
   no quarter, which would be a war crime, " he said.   
   US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.   
   US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth insisted the orders were legal and the   
   Washington Post was putting out "fake news. " ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via   
   Getty Images   
      
   Hegseth, 45, brushed off the report as "fake news, " saying on X, "As   
   usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and   
   derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to   
   protect the homeland. "   
      
   He also defended the legality of the attack by saying, "Every trafficker we   
   kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization, " and, "Our   
   current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U. S. and   
   international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed   
   conflict—and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and   
   down the chain of command. "   
      
   Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman and Senior Adviser, said on Friday, "We   
   told the Washington Post that this entire narrative was false yesterday.   
   These people just fabricate anonymously sourced stories out of whole cloth.   
   Fake News is the enemy of the people. "   
      
   The protocol for future suspected drug boat strikes was altered after the   
   Sept. 2 attack, and the military was instructed to detain any survivors.   
   PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 27: President Donald Trump participates in a   
   call with U. S. service members from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on   
   Thanksgiving Day on November 27, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by   
   Pete Marovich/Getty Images)   
   Donald Trump retroactively announced the U. S. was at war with Designated   
   Terrorist Organizations in the Caribbean, and therefore anyone involved in   
   the strikes would be exempt from prosecution. Pete Marovich/Getty Images   
      
   Though the attacks have garnered bipartisan frustration, it's unclear what   
   the Senate Armed Services Committee could do if it concludes Hegseth's   
   strikes were illegal.   
      
   In the weeks following the attack, President Trump, 79, attempted to   
   retroactively insulate those responsible from legal consequences by   
   informing Congress that the U. S. was in a "non-international armed   
   conflict" with "designated terrorist organizations, " and therefore those   
   who killed suspected narcotics traffickers would be exempt from criminal   
   prosecution.   
      
   "That's one of the problems with the law of armed conflict — the state   
   using force is judge, jury, and executioner, " said Huntley.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)