When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed a bombshell Washington Post article that he rreportedly ordered the killing of defenseless passengers adrift in the Caribbean Sea following a boat strike in early September, he noticeably didn't refute the allegations.
In a Friday post to his official X account, Hesgeth referred to the Post's reporting as "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland." He maintained that it was his intent to carry out "lethal, kinetic strikes" against alleged "narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people." The Pentagon chief continued to defend the strikes as "lawful under both U.S. and international law."
"The Biden administration preferred the kid gloves approach, allowing millions of people — including dangerous cartels and unvetted Afghans — to flood our communities with drugs and violence," Hegseth wrote. "The Trump administration has sealed the border and gone on offense against narco-terrorists. Biden coddled terrorists, we kill them."
The defense secretary's statement was met with skepticism from foreign policy experts and journalists. The Bulwark's Sam Stein tweeted: "This is not just a non denial - it's a quasi endorsement." Former CNN reporter John Harwood responded to Hegseth's post by accusing him of "committing heinous crimes."
"This is not a denial," wrote National Review podcast host Jeff Blehar. "He intends to brazen it out."
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, reminded Hegseth that nothing in the classified memo he personally read pertaining to the September 2 strike permitted "a second kinetic strike against defenseless survivors." He also hinted that Hegseth could face prosecution under a future administration.
"If the reports are true, then a war crime was committed," Lieu posted to X. "Also, there is generally no statute of limitations for war crimes."
"The United States Armed Forces and [United States Southern Command] are not your sicarios," tweeted Adam Isacson, who is the director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America. "You can't just order them to carry out illegal hits on noncombatants and kill survivors. Issue all the secret memos you want, granting immunity through legal contortions. These are still crimes, and won't stand."
Hegseth's defense of the attack on alleged drug traffickers came on the same day that President Donald Trump announced he was pardoning former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving a 45-year federal prison sentence for drug trafficking. Hernández was convicted of conspiring to traffic 400 tons of cocaine into the United States.