LOS ANGELES (OC).–Speaking today on CBS News Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), once a running mate to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of war crimes. “If that reporting is true, it’s a clear violation of The DoD’s own laws of war, as well as international laws about the way you treat people who are in that circumstances,” Kaine told Brennan. Kaine referred to a Washington Post story citing unnamed sources that Hegseth ordered a second strike to leave no prisoners on an alleged drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean. Washington Post reported Friday that the Pentagon strike Sept. 2 on a narco-trafficking boat left two survivors that Hegseth order liquidated in a second strike. Hegseth denied the reports, saying the Washington Post engaged in fabricated, defamatory reporting.
Kaine seeks to discredit the Defense Department under Hegseth, accusing him of illegal use of the Pentagon. Kaine thinks a new War Powers Act is in order to prevent the Pentagon under Hegseth from using the military unless it’s authorized under Article 1 by Congress.” White House lawyers think that President Donald Trump, under his Article 2 authority, can engage in military activities to defend U.S. national security. Fighting a drug war against dangerous drugs entering the U.S., the White House thinks they’re within their rights to order any military operation to defend U.S. national security. Kaine accused Hegseth of ordering a second strike on survivors of the Sept. 2 first strike, something illegal in international law. CBS Washington correspondent Nancy Cordes said Democrat lawmakers wanted answers about the legality of the Pentagon’s actions.
Kaine thinks Trump is outside his Article 2 authority to his narco-trafficking boats in the open seas, regardless of what they’re carrying in their payloads. Kordes said Democrats want evidence that “the folks onboard were really narco-traffickers, questioning whether or not striking suspected drug boats was illegal. “We had to pry with a crowbar after weeks and weeks out of the administration, the supposed legal rationale for the strikes at international waters,” Kaine said. “It was very shoddy,” questioning not whether Trump had legal authority but whether there’s any real legal justification for attacking boats on the open seas. “It’s time for Congress to rein in a president who is directing to wage war on his own saying so, which is not what the Constitution allowed,” Kaine said. Kaine sounded confused about the legality of the president using the Pentagon without Congressional approval.
Trump has approached the drug war as legitimate war because of the threat illicit drugs pose to the U.S. population, especially the youth. Instead of playing politics, Kaine would be better off asking for legitimate legal question answered on whether or not the war on drugs is a real war prompting Pentagon intervention. War of drugs is a metaphorical term referring to the government’s efforts to stop illegal drug distribution and sales in the United States. Legal experts can legitimately question whether there’s any equivalence to a metaphorical war and an actual threat posed by military intervention. Since none of the so-called drug boats fired on U.S. targets, it’s questionable whether the Pentagon can fire back without legitimate probable cause. Whether the boasts themselves carry drugs or bananas the cargo itself does not determine whether or not the Pentagon can take action.
Hegseth insists that the Pentagon operation in the Caribbean and East Pacific are legal under U.S. and International law.“ Calling the Washington Post report “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory,” Hegseth justified his actions. Kaine doesn’t need to pass a new War Powers resolution, he needs to get some legal questions answered from the International Court of Justice at The Hague, whether or not it’s legal to fire on non-combatant boats in international waters. “It’s time for Congress to rein in a president who is deciding to war war on his own say-so, which is not what the Constitution allowed,” Kaine said, barking up the wrong tree. It’s not a Constitutional argument to answer a simple question whether it’s legal under international law for military intervention against a non-combatant cargo ship. Some legal experts think it’s illegal.
Hegseth would be in a world of hurt if he ordered a second strike to leave no survivors after the first strike on Sept. 2. Kaine wants to besmirch the White House, more than he wants to get to the bottom of whether or not it’s legal for the White House to strike non-combatant boats suspected to carrying narcotics in the open seas. Trump approach to the war on drugs may be taken too literally. Chances are that Trump would receive an unfavorable ruling in The Hague’s International Court of Justice. When Kaine talks about a new War Powers Act, he’s engaged in an Article 1 and Article 2 battle, not something valid to international courts. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, has no facts to support that Hegseth ordered a second strike on the boat hit by the Pentagon Sept. 2. He said it would be serious if the Washington Post report were true.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
