Reports: US "double-tapped" Caribbean boat after Hegseth ordered everyone killed - National & International News -

Multiple news organizations have reported that the US “double-tapped” a Caribbean boat on September 2. Experts have called this a war crime.

Reports: US “double-tapped” Caribbean boat after Hegseth ordered everyone killed

Multiple sources have told the Washington Post that the US military carried out a second strike on a boat in the Caribbean on September 2 in order to kill survivors. The Special Operations commander overseeing the attack reportedly gave the order to comply with an order from War Secretary Pet Hegseth to “kill everybody” on the boat. Officials who have seen the unedited footage of the strike say that after the initial strike, two survivors were clinging to wreckage. The second strike reportedly blew those men apart.

The Intercept first reported on the strike to kill survivors after it allegedly occurred. The Post’s story was the first to tie the order to kill survivors directly to Hegseth. Hegseth and other Pentagon officials have denied the reporting but have not specifically said what in the reporting is untrue.

Strikes targeting individuals who are no longer a threat (sometimes called a “double tap” or “follow-on strike”) would violate the Geneva Convention and constitute a war crime. One person who watched the live feed of the strike said the American people would be horrified if the full video were ever released.

Terrorists, criminals or civilians?

The US has since struck over 20 boat in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing at least 80 people in total. The Trump administration justifies the strikes by claiming they are engaged in a war on “narco-terrorists”. The administration has offered no proof that these boats were carrying drugs or that their occupants were cartel members.

Even if they were proven to be narcotraffickers, the case for a campaign that blows them out of the water rather than interdicting and arresting them is legally tenuous. As one War Department official told The Intercept, “The US is now directly targeting civilians. Drug traffickers may be criminals but they aren’t combatants”.

Following the September 2 strike, the Pentagon changed tactics and picked up survivors. In one case, the men rescued were released to their home countries without charge, despite the Trump administration characterizing them as international terrorists.

Senator: “Americans will be prosecuted”

The new revelations only add to existing concerns expressed by US lawmakers that the Trump administration’s military campaign in the Caribbean is on dubious legal ground. It also raises further questions about the abrupt resignations or retirements of Adm. Alvin Holsey (head of US Southern Command) and Lt. Gen. Joe McGee (director for strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Staff). Both men announced they were leaving their positions weeks after the September 2 strike. Both officers had also reportedly clashed with Hegseth over the legality of the Caribbean mission. Neither Holsey nor McGee have expressed their misgivings publicly.

Lawmakers are calling for more Congressional oversight over these strikes. Senate Armed Services Committee chair Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and the committee’s senior member Sen. Jack Reed (D-Rhode Island) said last week that their committee would conduct “rigorous oversight” on these strikes. However, no plan has been announced for public hearings.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Massachusetts), a Marine Corps veteran, called the September 2 follow-on strike “blatantly illegal”. Moulton added, “Mark my words: It may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this, either as a war crime or outright murder”.

Six Democrats (whom Trump has called “The Seditious Six”) recently urged members of the US armed services to disregard orders that may be illegal, but did not specifically mention the Caribbean strikes. The FBI is now seeking interviews with them.