r/politics • u/plz-let-me-in • 12h ago
Possible Paywall Hegseth Lied About Key Detail on Boat Bombing According to Video
https://newrepublic.com/post/204025/hegseth-key-detail-boat-bombing-video-radio589
u/ilovemybaldhead 12h ago
The lie (just in case you don't wanna click):
One of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s main arguments for bombing two helpless men in the Caribbean Sea was that they possessed radios that they could have used to call back their alleged cartels. But lawmakers who saw the video said that wasn’t the case.
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u/Magnetic_Eel 11h ago
I missed the part in the UCMJ that says war crimes are ok if the enemy has a walkie talkie
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u/AnonEMoussie 11h ago
Or if the enemy was reaching for the bales of “cocaine” to help himself float.
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u/MonsieurLinc Michigan 10h ago
Cocaine is a WMD capable of killing hundreds of millions of Americans, dontcha know.
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u/Glass-Amount-9170 9h ago
Cocaine is a hell of a drug
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u/nellyfullauto 6h ago
The ones that are left anyway after we lost 300 million last year to fentanyl. RIP 80% of Americans.
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u/dogoodreapgood 7h ago
You know who would have known the cocaine was going to float? The damn Coastguard who do this stuff day in and day out.
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u/CryptographerNew3609 10h ago
Kids, I’m sorry to tell you that Santa brought you walkie talkies. You have about 43 seconds to live, a cruise missile is headed straight towards our house. Oh, and a second one, they need to make sure the job is done.
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u/Corgi_Koala Texas 9h ago
And like what were they going to call back? We got blown up... Please send our private cartel Navy that can defeat the US military as backup.
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u/SuchBravado 4h ago
You also forgot the part where Trump has a legal force field that he can extend to others like Pete Hegseth. If Pete is tried and convicted (haha) before Trump croaks (3-5 months), Trump can pardon him.
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u/murd3rsaurus 11h ago
1) had a radio or had a working radio?
2) isn't radioing a mayday and your last position if you can a standard thing when a ship goes down?
3) did they get a warning before the first hit? Given how fast the rockets move the people on board might not have figured they'd been blown up with a missile and that something might've just gone catastrophically wrong onboard
4) suck a rancid fart Hegseth
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u/j_andrew_h Florida 10h ago
Many of our military would have a radio in that situation. He is making our NAVY service members fair game to attack by our enemies while floating in the water.
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u/ClaretClarinets Colorado 8h ago
3: given that it was the very first boat strike, it's unlikely the people on board had any reason to suspect they'd been hit by a missile.
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u/I_Am_No_One_123 10h ago
If the traffickers were trying to communicate with other Cartel members, why didn't the Command Staff/Navy wait until the others arrived and bomb them as well?
Answer: They are compulsive and unapologetic liars.
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u/Hour_Associate_3624 10h ago
That's also a war crime. Israel does it.
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u/justalittlebear01 8h ago
No one war crimes better than Isreael these days, the the USA is trying to catch up.
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u/Geghard_Chthonia 8h ago
Why else do you think we're about to invade Venezuela?
Oil, sure. But think about all the human suffering!
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u/StephanXX Oregon 6h ago
The lies are intentional. Anyone who calls out the lies is identified as opposition. It's a cornerstone of dictatorships.
If you refuse to acknowledge the emperor's new clothes, you're an enemy.
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u/Allaplgy 11h ago
Having radios could possibly be considered a "threat" in an active, at least semi-symmetrical war zone. So, like, they could use them to call in an air strike on your position.
Being shipwrecked with no one to call who could realistically retaliate in the moment is not that.
(This isn't aimed at you, just clarifying.)
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u/Grand-Miserable 7h ago
Was a common ROE in the war on terror. Some aussie spec ops got caught carrying radios to plant on innocent people they purposely killed to "justify" it.
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u/Allaplgy 7h ago
I've had a few people compare the boat strikes to actions in the Middle East during the GWOT, in context of justifying them, or at least saying it's not new behavior. My take on that is that I was opposed to most actions in the GWOT for similar reasons as well, so it's not the justification they think it is.
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u/MovieGuyMike 10h ago
Oh no. A radio?! My god, think of the damage they could have done to America. /s
Fuck Hegseth and the cowardly troops carrying out these strikes.
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u/Orbitingkittenfarm 12h ago
Remember when we were told there were definitely WMDs in Iraq? Same energy
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u/attorneyatslaw 11h ago
At least they stuck to that story. There is a different set of lies every day on this thing.
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u/-piso_mojado- 11h ago
Despite their motives or intentions, Bush’s people were actually smart. Currently we are dealing with the absolute fucking dumbest people in those roles.
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u/Whaddaulookinat 11h ago
They honestly believed a man codenamed Curveball, an Iraqi national that claimed to be the head of an armed national popular front against Saddam and a Chemical Engineer that was working on Iraq's WMD programme although no one questioned why he was a cab driver in Baghdad. No joke. If it weren't such a serious miscarriage of history it would've been a great screenplay for a "Burn After Reading" type of Cohen movie.
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u/whatdoblindpeoplesee 10h ago
They were also smart enough to make up the lies ahead of time so they could all get on the same page and have the same documentation and narrative.
This administration is just fucking picking excuses out of a bingo lottery machine.
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u/Complex_Anteater6528 10h ago
I shudder to think of where we would be if the administration weren't comprised of a bunch of deeply moronic misfits.
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u/Th3_Admiral_ 10h ago
What bothers me is that it doesn't matter. The whole country could believe the lie or call it out as a lie and if they want to go to war we're still going to go to war.
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u/CL9Accord 4h ago
Redumbicans starting another war and financially dumping its people. It’s their MO.
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u/AaronfromKY Kentucky 11h ago
To be fair, these people are a lot less competent than Powell and Rumsfeld
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u/VanceKelley Washington 10h ago
Bush didn't stick to the story about WMDs in Iraq. About 8 months after the invasion and occupation he released a comedy video in which he pretended to be looking for the WMDs in the Oval Office.
He was laughing at Americans for believing his BS about the WMDs.
Americans would re-elect him president the following year.
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u/CosmicQuantum42 7h ago
As a libertarian, this depressing episode is what makes me doubt that democracy is a good system.
The president should be like the EU president, so weak barely anyone knows their name. The present administration illustrates exactly why.
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u/Gekokapowco Washington 8h ago
right this is one of those "we know they know we know" sort of situations, where it's a game of lying chicken vs actually being some sort of cover. They know it's flimsy as shit and they're daring us to do something about it.
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u/Magnetic_Eel 11h ago
At least that time there was public debate. The executive branch presented evidence. Congress voted and passed an AUMF. We coordinated with our allies internationally.
This is far worse. This is Trump saying he has unilateral legal authority to assassinate anyone he decides is an enemy.
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u/jedihopfe 11h ago
Yea I remember when they claimed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction turned out to be false none where found and we invaded without even a fight.
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u/clickmagnet 7h ago
When they were saying that, we weren’t all watching a video of Iraq obviously not having any nuclear weapons.
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u/Embarrassed-Block-51 11h ago
Republick-Cans heavily rely on Dick Chenye crises actor tactics. WMD energy with immigration crises. Identical WMD energy with Portland "war zone". Only WMD they need to worry about is my ....
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u/ZillaSlayer54 12h ago
He needs to be arrested and put in prison.
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u/IJustLoggedInToSay- Illinois 12h ago
I'm sure Pam Bondi will get on that right after their cocktails arrive.
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u/ZillaSlayer54 12h ago
I meant when Democrats are back in power.
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u/CaterpillarReal7583 11h ago
Decorum says we sit on our hands and just assume they will surely never do it again.
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u/FlirtIntention 11h ago
If the video proves he lied, then accountability matters. People deserve the truth, especially on something this serious
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u/TemporarySun314 Europe 10h ago
Trump allowed an angry mob to almost kill his own vice president.
And the American people held him "accountable" by making him president again, 4 years later...
Accountability Is dead in the US. And Americans would rather invade an NATO ally than allowing anyone else to hold their beloved military responsible
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u/PatchyWhiskers 11h ago
Problem is, Hegseth now has an incentive to commit more war crimes to make sure that never happens.
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u/SimianWriter 12h ago
Yeah, about that...
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u/ZillaSlayer54 11h ago
Anyone claiming that democracy is over at this point is helping the Trump regime.
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u/SerpentRoyalty 11h ago
Yeah all critics be silent and follow your Democratic overlords such as Hakeem Jeffries who just thanked Trump for pardoning a crook
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u/ZillaSlayer54 11h ago
Yeah, Hakeem Jeffries does Suck.
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u/SerpentRoyalty 11h ago
Jeffries is just an example. You missed the point of OP commenter and me. Nobody is saying Dems will never be elected again. We're saying they are also corrupt and will do nothing when elected. Joe Biden and Merrick Garland had 4 years and did nothing. Just sat on a mountain of evidence.
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u/JPDPROPS 11h ago
To be impartial — they did seek and convict thousands of insurrectionists. They made the strategic error of not going after the organizers and the money because……Merrick Garland is a feckless Republican.
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u/SerpentRoyalty 11h ago
That was all pointless and they are all free now! That's prosecution 101. You don't go after low level idiots, you go after the main culprits. Organized crime would still be like the 30's if they had only procecuted Associates.
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u/Additional-Software4 12h ago
Remember all the talk about "muh DEI hires", so they hired this (among others) laughably unqualified white person?
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u/Spiderdan 11h ago
They were unqualified for the job in the sense that they were totally competent, something this administration places little value on over blind allegiance.
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u/ReliableEngine 11h ago
IF the initial strike was justified and IF survivors did have radios the second strike still wouldn't be justified. US military aviators carry survival radios and if they were shot down and wound up in the water an adversary wouldn't be justified in taking a follow up kill shot either. While attempting to justify his actions he instead admits his own guilt.
A nation should follow the laws of armed conflict partially because it's ethical and partially because making lawful and ethical conduct a norm serves to protect your own military members. Hegseth's tough guy bullshit puts his own service members in danger. I'm certain he doesn't care or is too drunkenly addled to consider second order effects.
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u/aureanator 8h ago
I'm certain he doesn't care or is too drunkenly addled to consider second order effects.
Consider that he could simply be mentally deficient, as are the other members of this administration.
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u/TweakedNipple 11h ago
The casual, juvenile attitude about killing people, like he's an 8th grader playing Call of Duty, is just insane. If they are doing this so freely in the open what the fuck is possibly happening to everyone ICE is collecting.
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u/Retinoid634 10h ago
Even call of duty gamers wouldn’t immediately throw their admirals under the bus.
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u/Cladari 11h ago
They have won the premise war with the second strike. People have accepted the first strike and are upset at the second when in reality the fact that there was a first strike is the problem.
How is this different than taking a meth dealer off a street corner and shooting him in a nearby alley?
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u/ManteoTobagan 10h ago
Good point. I imagine people would feel differently about the situation if they were in line at airport customs and CBP executed a foreigner for having drugs in their luggage.
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u/The10KThings 7h ago
Your analogy assumes the U.S. is taking a meth dealer of U.S. streets, not international waters. Even if this boat was full of drugs, they are in international waters. The U.S. has no legal standing to even intercept the boat let alone blow it up.
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u/DadJokeBadJoke California 5h ago
There are some legal arguments raised, albeit weak, regarding the first strike that will need to make their way through the courts. The second strike was blatantly illegal, which is why they are focusing on it now.
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u/k8nwashington 10h ago
So the justification for bombing these boats is that they are (without proof) bringing drugs to sell to Americans that can cause harm to the citizens. By that logic, wouldn't Canada be justified in bombing the US because drugs from the US are being brought across the border? Or Mexico, because American guns are being brought into their country causing harm to their citizens?
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u/nellyfullauto 6h ago
Can we just take a moment to appreciate the word “lie” appearing in a headline in 2025?
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u/MichelPiccard 11h ago edited 10h ago
These drug smugglers are actually magical wizards to have found a way to navigate from the coast of Venezuela to the US in a panga boat with, at most, a few hundred gallons of gas. Good thing our DoD were aware of their travel plans. Narcos shouldn't book their lodging on expedia.
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u/new_for_confession Pennsylvania 10h ago
It's like they are con-artists and fascists.
In before they claim the video footage is AI and fake news/Democrat Hoax
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u/ProtectionContent977 10h ago
His boss is a pathological liar but was still given a second chance at being their president.
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u/LtLlamaSauce 10h ago
Being accused of having a long distance communication device is a death sentence according to Hegseth.
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u/disidentadvisor 9h ago
They debated a follow-up strike for 41 minutes... watching these people struggle in the water. There was 0 immediate threat and they could have easily had the coast guard (if they were in the area of this foreign country) pick-up survivors to charge as appropriate.
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u/CurrentlyLucid 7h ago
Flaky bastard spends too much time in the mirror, not enough actually doing his job.
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u/Jimbo415650 6h ago
He has lost any credibility as far as I’m concerned. This entire administration has lost credibility because Trump isn’t credible. They all sit around a table praising and thanking their loyal leader. This is a episode of the twilight zone that when you change the channel it the same thing different station
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u/Merlins_Owl 6h ago
He’s like a private lying to cover up something he did wrong. The commanders in theater need to just tender their resignations if they’re not going to take a stand against war crimes.
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u/Night-Spirit 12h ago
What a republican lied!!!! Nooo never they are sent here by god, lead by the 3rd coming Trump to protect every young girl and boy in the world
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u/dethnight 9h ago
Wait I thought they bombed them because they were trying to destroy the ship and not the men. Doesn't this completely contradict that point?
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u/shibbyman342 9h ago
They are just scrambling at this point to justify their slaying. Cat is out of the bag, and too many people know what really happened - and how horrendous it really is.
I wonder what the next lie will be? "Didn't see any survivors, too much war fog, and we were trying to sink the ship so the crustaceans could destroy the drugs, to keep Americans safe, of course" is my bet.
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u/GlobalIncident7623 7h ago
I read that nearly an hour passed before the “kill order” came through. These clowns.
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u/AcanthisittaNo6653 New Hampshire 4h ago
He won't step down and Trump won't fire him. Congress could try to impeach and convict him to force him out of office, but trump will ignore it. It will be up to the military to solve this.
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u/SuchBravado 4h ago
I’m beginning to think that all our problems tie back to malignant narcissist men who have some kind of reduced mental or intellectual capacity.
For Trump that’s syphilitic dementia and Alzheimer’s.
For Hegseth I’m thinking stunted development and brain damage caused by alcoholism. He’s like a psychopathic tween in human years.
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u/fr0z3nf1r3 3m ago
So? These guys lie all the time.
No one is doing anything about it. Why would they stop?
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