National ReviewBy Jeffrey BleharNovember 29, 2025The secretary of war’s alleged order that led to drug boat–strike survivors’ being killed appears to be a violation of the norms of warfare.When the Democratic Party released a video — featuring Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona along with five other Democratic lawmakers — solemnly telling our enlisted men and women that they had the right and responsibility to “refuse illegal orders,” my first reaction was to roll my eyes at what I assumed was the cynical “Resistance” theater of it all. My second was to think it a bad idea to encourage low-level soldiers and sailors to start venturing uninformed opinions about what was or was not an illegal order.[...]But now you sort of have to wonder: Were Mark Kelly and others reacting to a rumor they might have heard? Marking their position in advance, waiting for another shoe to drop? Because it’s either that or they got stupidly, stupendously lucky in their timing. Right now they look eerily prescient, as we head into what by rights should be a huge scandal, one which would have serious consequences in any just world. (Note my hedge.)
But now you have to wonder what triggered Hegseth going off the deep end? You know that was like calling in the nuclear option... courts marshal someone out the military for over who has been out of the military for about 14 years? Yes, it has been done before... for rapists and murderers, but never for political reasons!
But yesterday the Washington Post broke the news that back in September, when the Trump administration launched that first strike, Hegseth was apparently very concerned about theater himself: For this opening salvo, Hegseth wanted a show of brute force emphasizing “lethality” (his favorite buzzword). To that end he issued a bloodthirsty command: “Kill everybody.” I’ll let the Post pick it up from there:A missile screamed off the Trinidad coast, striking the vessel and igniting a blaze from bow to stern. For minutes, commanders watched the boat burning on a live drone feed. As the smoke cleared, they got a jolt: Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck.
That statement by Hegseth might have just earned him a trip to the Hague and to the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack — the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s war on suspected drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere — ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water.It is important to note that Hegseth has not denied the story, and instead all but conceded it last night on Twitter. He opened with a typical blanket declaration that “[a]s usual, the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.” And then he went on to affirm his belief in “lethal, kinetic strikes” and make the farcical — and intentionally untestable — claim that “[e]very trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization.” This of course is impossible to prove, but even more to the point: Trump designated these organizations as terrorists only five days ago. (You cannot make something like this go away by passing a law to change a legal definition, and especially not ex post facto!)
That is in direct violation of military law! West Point's Lieber Institute writes;
The U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School instructs on international protections for the wounded and sick, one of the many aspects of the Geneva Conventions emphasized to both seasoned and new military lawyers. One focus of instruction is to determine when a wounded soldier ought to be recognized as hors de combat (“out of the fight”) and therefore, can no longer be made the object of attack. To that end, we expose judge advocates to the First Geneva Convention (GC I), Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (AP I), and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Law of War Manual. Within the Law of War Manual, judge advocates review a section on hors de combat which observes, “In order to receive protection as hors de combat, the person must be wholly disabled from fighting” (§ 5.9.4).
Clinging to a sinking boat I think would meet that definition!
But at the same time as this was happening the Secretary of Defense is going after Sen. Mark Kelly over saying that servicemembers should only obey lawful orders.
Now stop and think for a moment what Hegseth said. That soldiers should obey unlawful orders! And now he wants to courts marshal Sen. Kelly.
SF GateBy KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and BEN FINLEY, Associated PressNov 24, 2025The Pentagon announced Monday it is investigating Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over possible breaches of military law after the former Navy pilot joined a handful of other lawmakers in a video that called for troops to defy “illegal orders.”The Pentagon’s statement, posted on social media, cited a federal law that allows retired service members to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court martial or other measures.It is extraordinary for the Pentagon, which until President Donald Trump's second term had usually gone out of its way to act and appear apolitical, to directly threaten a sitting member of Congress with investigation. It comes after Trump ramped up the rhetoric by accusing the lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” in a social media post days after the video was released last week.
You know that was like calling in the nuclear option... courts marshal someone out the military for over who has been out of the military for about 14 years? Yes, it has been done before... for rapists and murderers, but never for political reasons!
And take a look at this plaque at West Point...
Two things... the first Hegseth was in the military and should know this! Second; what type of military is Hegseth building if he is promoting officers who put party loyalty ahead of the Constitution?
