Hegseth war crimes

[FlashDangerpants]

So it seems that "Secretary of War" Pete Hegseth has issued illegal orders to show no quarter, in direct contravention of the Geneva Conventions.

Those same conventions also explicitly forbid mistreatment of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked. Hegseth's order to attack a suspected drug boat at sea was already problematic as an act of piracy rather than war, but his order to hit the wreck with a follow up that killed survivors would be a war crime irrespective of the status of the victims as combatants/civilians.

After WWII, submarine captain Heinz-Wilhelm Eck was tried, convicted, and executed for ordering his crew to machine-gun the survivors of the Greek merchant ship Peleus in the Atlantic in March 1944.

There is a strong likelihood that Hegseth will be granted a federal pardon by Trump for all this. But Trump can't pardon globally for war crimes carried out beyond American jurisdiction, and thus both Hegseth and the subordinates who carried out this illegal order are in jeopardy.

So it seems that advice recently given to US armed forces personnel not to comply with illegal orders https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJtRLsRWsac is probably worth following.

[phyllo]

Trump and the administration believe they are above the law. And let's face it, they are.

Realistically, war crime prosecutions are pretty lame unless there are overwhelming conquerors and conquered in a shooting war.


The real consequence is the damage to the reputation of America and Americans.

[Impenitent]

So it seems that "Secretary of War" Pete Hegseth has issued illegal orders to show no quarter, in direct contravention of the Geneva Conventions...

first the treacherous commander in chief stops production of pennies - string him up!!

now Major Hegseth has the nerve to tell the troops to keep their change in their pockets!! - oh the humanity!!!

-Imp

[Gary Childress]

So it seems that "Secretary of War" Pete Hegseth has issued illegal orders to show no quarter, in direct contravention of the Geneva Conventions...

first the treacherous commander in chief stops production of pennies - string him up!!

now Major Hegseth has the nerve to tell the troops to keep their change in their pockets!! - oh the humanity!!!

-Imp

"Show no quarter" means don't take prisoners. It's a flagrant violation of International law. Violating it puts US citizens and soldiers in greater jeopardy should our enemies ever find themselves in a position to return the favor in kind.

[LuckyR]

Why the suprise that an unqualified job applicant isn't good at their job?

[seeds]

_______

Not meaning to make light of this latest example of America's immorality, but it is utterly insignificant compared to the innumerable and egregious war crimes the U.S. has been committing over the last seven or so decades, starting with its unconscionable actions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

I suspect the problem is that...

(like the overwhelmingness of Trump's voluminous onslaught of lies)

...the granularity of America's crimes gets lost in the fog of actual wars, and it therefore takes these highly isolated events to allow people to clearly see what America's war machine is capable of.
_______

[Impenitent]

bombing Iran nuclear sites?

just wait until Trump sprays Caracas with VX...

-Imp

[accelafine]

Painfully indicative of the pathetic hypocrisy of war. Eck was just a kid really, still in his twenties. No doubt following orders. He would have been called a 'hero' for killing the rest of the crew. Humans are awful. No wonder so many people are convinced that AI will get rid of the lot of us the first chance it gets.

I've noticed that flashy is only obsessed with Trump. He never mentions his own mass-murdering war criminal, Tony Blair.

As a matter of fact Trump is the LEAST warmongering president the US has had for a long time.

Regrets and remorse are emotions that tend to plague people when they've lived for long enough. With most people it's things like lost loves, children they didn't have, opportunities they missed, people they've hurt etc. Imagine Blair's and Dubya Bush's thoughts in their decrepit dotage. ''I caused the deaths of millions of people and ruined the lives of countless others, destroying the world in the process''. It's not a stretch to believe (hope) that this will be their fate. Power turns humans into psychopaths, but if they weren't psychopaths to begin with then the effect only lasts for the duration of their power. I wonder if this is why so many leaders go to pieces after their time in power has passed. They suddenly realise what depraved monsters they have been. Blair seems to be 'compensating' by having extensive cosmetic procedures. The world is laughing at him.

There's an excellent satirical series called 'The Politician' which brilliantly portrays the psychopathy that is a side-effect of seeking political power.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFm_oTcY1r4

[RickLewis]

I noticed these responses by Hegsgeth reported yesterday. Looks very weasly:

Hegseth has pushed back against accusations in the report, calling them "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory". On Monday, he tweeted that Admiral Bradley "is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support.

"I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made — on the September 2 mission and all others since."

Hegseth denies reports that he gave an order to "kill everybody", calling them "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory". Then he piles praise on his subordinate Admiral Bradley ("an American hero") for his "combat decisions". Isn't that neat? He thus appears to give strong support to Bradley while simultaneously making clear that it is Bradley's neck in the noose for anything illegal that was done. Hegseth loves to act tough but when there's pushback he immediately passes the buck.

[phyllo]

Trump : "I think we're just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We're going to kill them. You know, they're going to be like dead." October 23, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow1u7E3_4Ic

[FlashDangerpants]

Hegseth denies reports that he gave an order to "kill everybody", calling them "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory".

It's a shame he made such a big deal of assembling all his generals and admirals so he could tell them that "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." A few rules of engagement might have served him well in these trying times.

The full text of that speech is available at the subtly renamed "war.gov" site here:
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Tr ... uantico-v/

[Alexiev]

Hegseth denies reports that he gave an order to "kill everybody", calling them "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory".

It's a shame he made such a big deal of assembling all his generals and admirals so he could tell them that "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." A few rules of engagement might have served him well in these trying times.

The full text of that speech is available at the subtly renamed "war.gov" site here:
https://www.war.gov/News/Transcripts/Tr ... uantico-v/

Rodrigo Duterte (former president of the Philippines) has been indicted for the extra-judicial killing of drug dealers. We can hope (probably fruitlessly) that Hegseth, Trump, and their minions are next. It's bizarre that a president of the U.S. wants to emulate a third world thug.

[phyllo]

It's bizarre that a president of the U.S. wants to emulate a third world thug.

The power of life and death is too tempting.

[promethean75]

"It's bizarre that a president of the U.S. wants to emulate a third world thug"

It's not at all bizarre in today's world because we are entering the age of the new Ceasars. When the old Conservatisms make a final power grab while the world unravels around them because of capitalism. They get into the presidency and try to perform a three branched government coup, making anyone in an official office a conservative. Then they start tweezing the constitution and doing strange executive order shit that presidents don't ever do. This US national guard invasion is an example. The drug boats, obviously. A crewcutted anti immigration paramilitary task force crashing down Herberto's door and throwing Juanita on the cheap linoleum kitchen floor. Massive tarrifs.

All this stuff is what radically nervous conservatives do when there's mayhem everywhere (because of conservatism how ironic). They pull a Ceasar and raise the drawbridges, locking the castle down. Nobody gets in or out.

This is what all world leaders are doing. Their instincts are taking them back to the old ways of the autocrat Mussolini style. One big-ass tyrant is better than many little punk-ass tyrants (quoting M about capitalism and democracy).

[promethean75]

Correction. Read: "dirty linoleum floor".

It is already supposed by the reader that the linoleum floor is cheap because it's a linoleum floor. The adjective 'cheap' would be redundant and a good writer would have used a different descriptor.