HEGSETH STRIKE SCANDAL ERUPTS! Trump defends sec def’s “second blast” on drug boat survivors – war crimes probe looms: Hero or reckless killer in the Oval Office? ⚡🔥
The Caribbean’s gone from narco-hotspot to war-crime tinderbox, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s the match. A Washington Post bombshell on November 28 revealed
Hegseth’s alleged September 2 verbal order: “Kill everybody” on a suspected Venezuelan drug boat. The first missile strike crippled the vessel, leaving two survivors clinging to wreckage. Per sources, Special Ops commander Adm. Frank “Mitch”
Bradley—then JSOC head—greenlit a “double-tap” to finish them, rationalizing it as preventing a distress call. Total dead: 11. That’s one of 21 U.S. strikes since August, tallying 80+ lives in Trump’s anti-Maduro blitz.
Hegseth denies it vehemently: “Fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory,” he posted Friday, insisting ops are “lawful lethal kinetic strikes” under laws of war. Trump backed him Sunday on Air Force One: “Pete said he did not say that, and I believe him
100%… The first strike was very lethal.” But the Post’s insiders paint a darker picture—Hegseth’s directive predated the hit, turning routine interdiction into a no-mercy hunt. Legal eagles
howl: Former JAGs call it “war crimes, murder, or both,” violating Geneva Conventions on hors de combat protections. If not war (no AUMF), it’s straight-up homicide, per international law.
Congress is erupting. Bipartisan fury: House Armed Services’ Mike Rogers (R) and Adam Smith (D) demand a “full accounting”; Senate’s Roger Wicker (R) and Jack Reed (D) vow
“vigorous oversight.” Dems like Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Kelly brand it a “war crime”; even GOP’s Mike Turner flags “serious concerns” on legality. Sen. Ed Markey demands Hegseth’s firing.
As probes loom—possibly ICC referrals—Hegseth’s glib X post Sunday (Franklin the Turtle blasting boats: “For your Christmas wish list”) reeks of tone-deaf bravado.
Hero to MAGA hawks battling “narco-terrorists,” or reckless Oval killer enabling extrajudicial hits? Trump’s defense shields him, but with Venezuela’s airspace locked and land ops teased, this scandal could sink the sec def—or ignite impeachment whispers. In the kill-or-be-killed game, who’s the real monster?
