Tough week for Pete Hegseth, the American Secretary of Defense, renamed ‘War’. Two issues continue to haunt him: that of the alleged Venezuelan smuggling boats that American soldiers bombard as if they were a war fleet and that of the unsecured chat group in which he shared plans for an American attack on Houthis in Yemen. Although the White House continues to stand firmly behind Hegseth, there is increasing criticism elsewhere in the right-wing landscape.
On Tuesday, the department’s inspector general released a report on what has come to be called Signalgate, after the communications platform Hegseth used in March to target several fellow Cabinet members, Vice President JD Vance and, accidentally, a journalist. The Atlantic to be kept informed of the progress of the attack on the Houthis. The conclusions were clear: the fact that the minister used a private phone and an unsecured app to share this sensitive information violated the rules of his own ministry. And by sharing that information in this way two to four hours before the attack, he also risked endangering defense personnel and the mission’s purpose.
“Completely exonerated,” Hegseth tweeted nevertheless. And the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee found that the secretary had acted “within the limits of his authority.” American media reported that President Trump had tricked his fellow party members to defend Hegseth. Nevertheless, critical voices were also recorded among Republicans. Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon mentioned it on CNN “nonsense”, and said that he also knew a better word for it “but you can’t say that on TV”.
‘Kill ’em all’
Criticism of that other issue is louder and more vocal. Since September 1, the Trump administration has been shooting at boats sailing north from Venezuela. According to the White House, these are drug smugglers, although no further evidence is provided. Since then, 22 such attacks have been carried out, killing 87 people and capturing two survivors.
Reported last week The Washington Post that Minister Hegseth is said to have said at the first of this series of attacks: “Kill them all.” When the first attack hit the boat but did not kill all the crew members, the order was given for a second attack, which killed the last two survivors.
Everyone in the chain, from the minister to the admiral to the people who actually pulled the trigger, should be prosecuted
Hegseth passed the responsibility for that command to the highest ranking soldier involved, Admiral Mitch Bradley. He himself ran away after the first blow, he said, because “it is very busy in the department.” Bradley was questioned behind closed doors by a congressional committee on Thursday. Afterwards, Democrats and Republicans again made a diametric argument opposite messages outside.
Jim Hines, Democratic Rep. from Connecticut, said the footage shown during the hearing showed two people “clearly panicking, unable to continue, with a destroyed boat, being killed by the United States.” Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas had seen “two survivors” “trying to right their boat, load the drugs on it and head back to the US so they could continue the fight.”
The deeper meaning of those two different explanations is that the Democratic politician is describing a situation that amounts to a war crime: killing people who no longer pose a threat. The Republican politician describes those same people as determined warriors in a war situation.
War crime
Regardless of the question of whether there is a war situation at all – and Congress should have already ratified this, since the first attack took place more than 90 days ago – some Republicans, but also pro-Trump media, have increasingly questioned the actions of the army and the minister. Bee Newsmaxa channel that usually follows Trump’s line even more faithfully than FoxNews, a lawyer who had worked with Hegseth during his years as a TV commentator, explained that it is undeniably a war crime to shoot people in need. “Everyone in the chain, from the minister to the admiral to the people who actually pulled the trigger, should be prosecuted,” said Andrew Napolitano.
The always somewhat idiosyncratic Republican senator Edge Paul from Kentucky found the entire action against the boats “excessive”, without evidence that the cargo was drugs or that the people on board were armed. He fears that the shelling is a prelude to war with Venezuela. A real war.
On Saturday, December 6, Venezuelans will protest in major cities worldwide to draw attention to the situation in the country. They want to put pressure on the US to abandon war.
Also read
Is he also attacking Venezuela on land? Trump has these reasons for doing/not doing so
The ever-changing statements from Hegseth and the White House about the events of the September 1 attack make it more difficult for Republicans to defend him; sometimes the statement they support one day is adjusted the next day.
President Trump continues to support his minister. Although he initially said he knew nothing of the circumstances under which the crew of the first boat died, he said Tuesday at a press conferenceseated next to Hegseth, that each boat destroyed “saves 25,000 American lives.”
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