From
Elendil Wadwallow@horchata12839@gmail.com to
comp.os.linux.advocacy,alt.computer.workshop,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,alt.atheism on Wed Dec 3 02:02:58 2025
From Newsgroup: comp.os.linux.advocacy
Hitler was right.
If Trump Doesn’t Fire Pete Hegseth Now, It’s Going to Send a Message Heard Round the World
By Fred Kaplan
Dec 02, 20254:00 PM
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The question of the day seems to be whether Secretary of Defense Pete
Hegseth is a war criminal. It’s a complicated question, in that the
civilian Venezuelan boat crews that he ordered be killed were not at war
with the United States. So, the real question is whether he’s a criminal, plain and simple.
Hegseth himself probably finds the question absurd because, as he has
stated many times, he rejects the very concept of “war crimes,” viewing the killing of suspected bad guys in combat as justified, even laudable,
whatever military lawyers might say.
Now that he’s seen as playing a role in actual killings, not merely
defending others accused of murder on the battlefield, President Donald
Trump must decide whether he shares Hegseth’s insouciance. If he doesn’t
share his cavalier views on the subject, Trump needs to fire him. If he doesn’t fire him, Trump in effect tells the world—including the 2 million service members of the U.S. armed forces—that he too is indifferent to the laws of war, sending a message that they can be indifferent as well.
Trump’s choice—canning Hegseth or letting him stay on—could affect civilian–military relations for decades to come, demoralizing countless officers and enlisted personnel while emboldening others to violate a
variety of their oaths.
The controversy surrounds the spate of boat sinkings committed by U.S.
Special Forces in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific—at least 22 so far, killing 80 people onboard, all suspected of smuggling narcotics, though no evidence has been produced in public. Hegseth has directed these operations with gleeful enthusiasm, though the policy itself was instigated by Trump.
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