Just as the Epstein scandal was temporarily disappearing from the daily news, The Washington Post reported a more horrific story. Self-dubbed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is reported to have ordered a second strike on an already-destroyed suspected drug smuggling boat to kill two survivors. If the story is accurate, the United States may have committed a war crime.
Those of us familiar with the history of the Vietnam War will remember the Mai Lai Massacre, where between 347 and 504 unarmed Vietnamese adults and children were killed. The Hegseth incident is, of course, much smaller, but the legal issue is the same. An illegal order was given resulting in unarmed people being killed.
Much is being written about who gave what order. Donald Trump, unsurprisingly, says he knew nothing about it and that Pete Hegseth denies giving the order. No surprises here, but if Trump and Hegseth are lying, it may not protect them from accountability. The bipartisan leadership of both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have announced investigations.
A phrase featured on The X-Files television series comes to mind: The truth is out there.
Legal pundits are pouring over details of the attack that killed the two survivors. The issues are complex, but, assuming that the account is true, the answer is simple: Murder.
Among the issues involved is the legitimacy of characterizing Venezuelan boats suspected of smuggling dangerous narcotics as an attack on the United States. Another issue is why; after releasing video footage of the first attack on the suspected drug boat, the Department of Defense did not release the second or report that a second strike had been carried out. Was there a coverup? If there was a coverup, does that prove that whoever ordered it knew an illegal order had been given and executed?
Also, if Hegseth did not give the order, who did? And are Hegseth, Trump, or others responsible or was someone else insubordinate? Is someone going to be thrown under the bus? (As of this writing, the betting is on US Special Operations Command commander Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley.)
I won’t review the Law of War or the U.S. Code of Military Justice, but the law is clear that killing civilians who pose no threat to U.S. military members, even in a war zone, is murder. Read 18 U.S.C. § 2441-War Crimes and judge for yourself.
In coming weeks, articles of Impeachment will likely be filed in the U.S. House of Representatives against President Trump, Secretary Hegseth, and others. The coming House and Senate Committee investigations, which the President is unlikely to be able to stop, could not only assign responsibility for what appears to be a horrific war crime, but also document a coverup likely to put Watergate to shame.
When I started work on this week’s column, I was going to write about accountability and the absence of it in the age of Trump. If the Post reporting is accurate, and many in Congress, including Republicans, believe it is, accountability may finally come to Donald J. Trump.
J.E. Dean writes on politics, government, goldendoodles, and other subjects. A former counsel on Capitol Hill and public affairs consultant, Dean is an advocate for democracy and the rule of law.
Bob Kopec says
It is Trump’s order passed on through flunkies like Hegseth and others in Trump’s inept “YES MEN” cabinet.
Wilson Dean says
Trump’s best defense may be that since he had no idea why he had an MRI, why should he know anything about the war he is waging on the high seas?
j. Dean says
You could be right–it makes sense.
Paul Rybon says
Nobody seems to doubt that smuggling of people and deadly drugs has gone on for a long time. Government officials have had years to develop the Intel on those guys and many recent administrations have tried to apprehend or at least slow down the traffic. But to no avail. How can we blame the present administration for making some dramatic warnings against these killers. Nothing else has seemed to make any difference. After all, our Constitution has set up the executives as guardians of American safety and security.
J. Dean says
Thanks for reading my piece and for your comment. I would respond that the “second tap” did nothing to stop the flow of drugs. It was unnecessary and against the Law of War, the U.S. Code for Military Conduct, and human decency.
There is also no evidence, at least that I have seen, that the military strikes on suspected drug boats, will be effective in their stated purpose.
Michael Davis says
One can only hope, Mr. Dean, that some accountability will happen. The US Navy is committing war crimes by killing civilian noncombatants. A lot of people seem to be horrified by the second strike ordered to kill two survivors in the water. That was a war crime, but so was the first strike. The justifications offered by Trump and his sycophants are almost laughable. “The fog of war,” says Hegseth. What war? One strike against an unarmed boat full of noncombatants and our Navy and Hegseth can’t figure out what is going on because of brain fog? Pathetic.
And thank you for bringing up the Mai Lai Massacre. For those who don’t know, it was an historic national disgrace for this country. Films showed bodies of women and dead babies killed by manic US troops. Hundreds of unarmed victims. Later it came out that the Army attacked the wrong village. None of the murdered, not even the babies, were the enemy. No one was held accountable and Nixon exonerated the local commanding officer. If the military could get away with a mass murder of unarmed men, women and children, it is hard to hope anyone will pay for the war crimes now being committed.
J. Dean says
Thank you for your comment. And special thanks for elaborating on the Mai Lai Massacre.
You are spot on in describing Hegseth’s explanation as “Pathetic.”
Mary Smith says
This piece about nightmares and orders makes me think of the quieter nightmare unfolding here at home. Talbot Family Network presented its annual report in Easton this week, and the picture was grim: starving children, homeless students, a mental health crisis, drug addiction, and families pushed into poverty. TFN spoke softly, but the truth was harsh.
These conditions are the predictable result of extreme conservation zoning that froze our villages, blocked local jobs and services, and treated residents like trespassers in a landscape meant for display. The long drives, stagnant villages, empty crossroads, lack of options, and constant strain of daily life create a silent cruelty for so many. Talbot County locked down its scenery with ruthless efficiency, and in doing so harmed the vulnerable people who live within that scenery. The TFN report is a local nightmare born not from speeches or orders but from planning decisions made behind closed doors. It is hard to face, but the suffering is ours, and that makes it impossible to ignore.
Mickey Terrone says
Hi John. Your article about the depravity of Hegseth’s likely murdering defenseless individuals struggling for their lives in the water surviving a drone explosion reminded me about all the other depraved issues hovering over Trump and his mindless cabinet-level hatchet men and women.
As this event grabs the immediate headlines, it allows us to momentarily lose sight of the depravity of Trump’s frantic denials about Epstein, even as he buys time to allow Pam Bondi to clean the files of references to Trump from the “Epstein Files”, even as she continues to misuse her power as Attorney General, however ineptly, to criminalize Trump’s political opponents.
Little Marco Rubio and his State Department lapdogs continue to make every effort to make it appear Trump is making a bona fide effort to negotiate peace in Ukraine, even as he continues to starve Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Putin’s mercenaries. The abandonment of Ukraine and thus, NATO as well, should break the heart of every American veteran and every other patriot who ever sacrificed for the defense of democracy anywhere in the world – not to mention the hundreds of thousands who paid the ultimate price to save the world from fascism 3/4 of a century ago.
At the same time the US economy reels from the effects of Trump’s tariffs. Cutting off SNAP funding previously authorized by Congress and exposing millions of poorer Americans to exorbitant price increases in health insurance costs are creating fear and massive stress to millions more elderly people. Yes, Trump and his cabinet zombies are “all in” on this sweeping depravity but virtually every Republican in both Houses of Congress must share in the ignominy of this blast of unchristian malevolence. I pray that accountability will soon come to Trump and all his Republican supporters, er, accomplices.
John Dean says
As always, a great comment with useful information. Thank you for significantly adding to the conversation.