Opinion | Pete Hegseth Is Ordering Executions at Sea

A lot happened this week. “I don’t want Somalis in our country.” “President Trump said National Guard troops will be heading to New Orleans soon.” “Netflix has signed a deal with Warner Bros. Discovery.” Here’s something you shouldn’t miss. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has had a very bad week. That’s because last year he had a cushy job as a talk show host. “I got him, I got him.” And this year he is accused of a war crime. This all started in September, when Secretary Hegseth ordered the military to attack a boat he said was carrying drugs to the United States. Since then, he has been ordering more and more attacks, proudly announcing at least 20 attacks at sea that have killed more than 80 people. We may have a lot to stand here and talk about, but the situation has gotten much worse. Last week, the Washington Post reported that two survivors of the first attack in September were clinging to the side of the boat. However, at the beginning of the attack, Secretary Hegseth reportedly gave the order to “kill everyone”, which led the operation’s commander, Admiral Frank Mitchell Bradley, to order a second attack that would kill any survivors. If this is true, this is almost certainly a war crime. “We are now hearing from MPs. They are quite skeptical about the second strike.” According to military law, you can no longer kill people who pose no threat to you. But the bigger problem is that all of these strikes are probably illegal. Just as the police cannot shoot a suspected drug dealer without due process, the military cannot determine from afar that someone is a criminal worthy of death. But that appears to be exactly what President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are doing. To disguise themselves, President Trump declared that the United States is in an official —— “Armed conflict ——” with the drug cartels, which actually doesn’t make sense because only Congress can declare war and they have to vote for it. On Thursday, Congress finally provided some oversight. “On Capitol Hill today to brief lawmakers ——” “These events are happening so far from the United States. I question why the administration is participating in this campaign.” Everyone must be held accountable for their role, but we must not forget that Pete Hegseth, as Secretary of Defense, is responsible for the American military. But whether he’s sharing strange messages about boat attacks or sending detailed military plans to a group chat that accidentally includes a journalist, it doesn’t seem to get through to him: Our leaders have to abide by the law, if they don’t our leaders have to abide by the law, if they don’t they have to be removed from office.