Pete Hegseth seemingly confirms commitment to war crimes

As reported by the Canary, the US has been striking what it describes as “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean. Pete Hegseth claims:

As we’ve said before, vessel strikes on narco-terrorists will continue until their the poisoning of the American people stops.

Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist… pic.twitter.com/gQF9LpSjqD

— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) November 7, 2025

Importantly, whether the people on these boats were drug runners or not, it’s illegal to just blow them up. One person who seemingly doesn’t care about this reality, however, is the US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth:

We have only just begun to kill narco-terrorists.

— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) November 28, 2025

Pete Hegseth—The United States of Assassinations

The technical term for what America is doing is an act of ‘extra-judicial killings’, which means they’re murdering people outside the confines of the law. While any sort of killing is bad, the problem with normalising unauthorised murder is simply this: where does it end?

You might agree with blowing up drug runners, but you probably wouldn’t like being blown up yourself. But once the cat’s out of the murder bag, nothing is off the table.

In response to the killings, a former chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the BBC:

“These are criminals, not soldiers. Criminals are civilians,” said Mr Moreno Ocampo of the US allegations against the boat crews. “They are criminals, and we should do better at investigating them, prosecuting them and controlling them, but not killing people,” he told the BBC.

It’s actually a degree worse than this too, we don’t even know that the slain individuals were even drug runners. This is the problem with blowing people up before asking them questions. And again, you might think you agree with this, but what you’re agreeing to is a future in which you’re one false accusation away from being drone struck.

Hegseth’s latest statements have drawn criticism from figures including congressman Ted Lieu:

Dear @SecWar: I read the classified legal memo. Nothing in the memo, or military law, authorizes a second kinetic strike against defenseless survivors. If the reports are true, then a war crime was committed.

Also, there is generally no statute of limitations for war crimes. https://t.co/3kQCsRQpbj

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 29, 2025

The above was in response to the accusation that Hegseth is personally ordering murders:

Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.…

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 28, 2025

The fact that he’s reportedly been busted doing war crimes could suggest why Hegseth is lashing out and doubling down. As people are pointing out, however, the future is looking very bleak for Hegseth given that his boss Donald Trump is clearly too self-involved to push through the Fourth Reich they were relying on:

Based on the Commander’s Legal Handbook issued by the Judge Advocate General, Pete Hegseth’s orders for a second strike to execute survivors were illegal and constitute a war crime.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. pic.twitter.com/F7xpiVI1TT

— Maine (@TheMaineWonk) November 29, 2025

Note to Pete Hegseth:
Banking on a Trump pardon to shield you from accountability for ordering extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean Sea – won’t work in countries under ICC jurisdiction who will send you to The Hague. Tick fucking tock. pic.twitter.com/7f7wbccpNS

— anyone_want_chips (@anyonewantchips) November 29, 2025

People are also noting that the Trump administration is absolutely fine with some drug traffickers:

Can you explain this then, Pete Hegseth? pic.twitter.com/3HL48jLkdq

— Ryan Shead (@RyanShead) November 29, 2025

The Farce Reich

In Trump’s first term, his main obstacle to getting his own way was the fact that his underlings were constantly working against him. In his second term, he attempted to rectify this problem by only hiring loyalists. The problem is that Trump loyalists range from ‘stupid’ to ‘unhinged’ to ‘intoxicated’, with Hegseth reportedly being all three.

Of course, while the stupidity of these people will likely prevent them from instigating 1,000 years of Trumpism, that doesn’t mean they won’t do tremendous damage between now and 2028.

Featured image via the Canary