Many in the U.S. military were already uneasy about Pete Hegseth‘s attacks on small boats in the Caribbean. There’s no evidence that the boats hit were being used to transport narcotics and, even if they were, obliterating them rather than intercepting and detaining those on board turns enlisted men into executioners.
But tensions have risen significantly after the revelation of the “second tap” orders from Hegseth. As per multiple reports, on hearing that the first strike had merely destroyed the boat and two survivors were left clinging to floating wreckage, Hegseth ordered the Navy to “kill them all”.
Killing unarmed men who present absolutely no threat to you in that moment is a war crime and (at least theoretically) opens up Hegseth, his officers, and the enlisted men who carried out that order to criminal charges.
As such, there’s currently drama at the Pentagon and a mutinous mood. But there’s one big voice that’s lying very low at the moment. As pointed out by the Washington Post‘s David Ignatius on Morning Joe, the highest-ranking officer in the military, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine, is nowhere to be seen. As Ignatius said:
“This is a period where the uniformed military is being asked, in effect, to take the fall for the Secretary of Defense. And you’d think that General Caine, at a time when people in the Pentagon are deeply concerned about this, would be more visible.”
Caine is said to have been in discussions with the chairman of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee about the legality of Hegseth’s orders, but apparently, his public absence in the last few days has raised eyebrows:
This is a time when we’re really looking for the person who represents our military to be present, to, in a sense, offset or counterbalance the Secretary of Defense. And so it would be a good time to see more of General Caine. But the fact that he’s been so absent has been noted to me by several senior military officials in the last 24 hours.”
It’s clear that urgent discussions are underway about the consequences of Hegseth’s order, both the legal consequences and the ethical and moral situation he’s placed the military in.
Hegseth is turning enlisted men into murderers
At this point, it doesn’t matter who was on those boats and what they were transporting: using the Navy to kill two unarmed men clinging to wreckage is implicating enlisted men in murder and actively damaging the ‘honor’ inherent to serving.
This is also damaging to the United States’ defense in the long run. There’s a brain drain underway as long-serving senior military officials resign or take early retirement rather than find themselves potentially facing a war crimes tribunal. Those actually carrying out Hegseth’s orders face sleepless nights as they deal with the guilt of executing helpless men. And, finally, all this can only discourage people from signing up in the first place.
Notably, even Donald Trump himself has refused to mount a full defense of Hegseth. Could his days be numbered?
