The White House is defending that boat strike from September, where they killed some suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean, and then apparently fired again to finish off whoever survived the first hit. Defense Secretary Hegseth gave orders to take out the boat and everyone on it, but officials are saying he never specifically told them to execute survivors after watching them get blown up. The commander running the operation just kept firing until the boat sank and everyone was dead.
Lawmakers from both parties are investigating whether this counts as a war crime since killing shipwrecked people is pretty clearly illegal even if you buy the administration's argument that they're fighting a formal war against cartels. Legal experts are pointing out that the Pentagon's own manual says you can't fire on survivors, and the whole thing gets even messier because this speedboat wasn't actually a warship that could surrender properly in the first place.
Lawmakers from both parties are investigating whether this counts as a war crime since killing shipwrecked people is pretty clearly illegal even if you buy the administration's argument that they're fighting a formal war against cartels. Legal experts are pointing out that the Pentagon's own manual says you can't fire on survivors, and the whole thing gets even messier because this speedboat wasn't actually a warship that could surrender properly in the first place.
