U.S. destroys Venezuelan vessels | Hegseth sidelines the lawyers

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superrific said:
How are we going to do that? they have no idea who is on these boats, and the bodies are in the ocean.
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Maybe a wife tells a reporter for the NYT that her husband was on the boat and he was a US citizen. The Pubs won't believe her, of course, and they probably wouldn't care if Trump blew up a US citizen who might have been smuggling drugs, but it would catch a lot of people's attention.
 

How the Pentagon sidelined lawyers while testing the legal limits of military action​



“… In late January, Lt. Gen. Joe Berger, who had taken the top posting in July 2024, was asked for his advice about the legality of using Texas National Guard soldiers for immigration enforcement. Berger told Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George that he was skeptical and wanted more information about whether the soldiers were properly trained for that kind of mission, according to a former senior defense official and another person familiar with his actions.

He was told by the department’s acting general counsel, Charlie Young, to stop meddling in state affairs, the sources said.

… Then, on February 14, the right-wing social media account LibsofTikTok, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has frequently engaged with on X, accused Berger of running afoul of Hegseth’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

The Army denied that accusation, also on X. But one week later, Hegseth fired Berger. A second top legal officer, the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General, Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer, was also fired. Hegseth told reporters later that he viewed them as potential “roadblocks to orders that are given by a commander-in-chief.”

… More than a dozen current and former defense officials, including four current Judge Advocate General corps officers, told CNN that Berger and Plummer’s firings appeared to be the first warning shots by a new administration intent on pushing the boundaries of the law — whether by kicking all transgender troops out of the military, firing thousands of civil servants, deploying National Guard troops to cities over the objections of governors or launching lethal strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean sea.

“Decapitating those organizations”—the Army and Air Force JAG Corps—“was an easy way for Hegseth to send a strong message from the outset and put the entire JAG corps on notice,” a defense official familiar with his thinking told CNN.…”
 
nycfan said:

How the Pentagon sidelined lawyers while testing the legal limits of military action​



“… In late January, Lt. Gen. Joe Berger, who had taken the top posting in July 2024, was asked for his advice about the legality of using Texas National Guard soldiers for immigration enforcement. Berger told Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George that he was skeptical and wanted more information about whether the soldiers were properly trained for that kind of mission, according to a former senior defense official and another person familiar with his actions.

He was told by the department’s acting general counsel, Charlie Young, to stop meddling in state affairs, the sources said.

… Then, on February 14, the right-wing social media account LibsofTikTok, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has frequently engaged with on X, accused Berger of running afoul of Hegseth’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

The Army denied that accusation, also on X. But one week later, Hegseth fired Berger. A second top legal officer, the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General, Lt. Gen. Charles Plummer, was also fired. Hegseth told reporters later that he viewed them as potential “roadblocks to orders that are given by a commander-in-chief.”

… More than a dozen current and former defense officials, including four current Judge Advocate General corps officers, told CNN that Berger and Plummer’s firings appeared to be the first warning shots by a new administration intent on pushing the boundaries of the law — whether by kicking all transgender troops out of the military, firing thousands of civil servants, deploying National Guard troops to cities over the objections of governors or launching lethal strikes against suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean sea.

“Decapitating those organizations”—the Army and Air Force JAG Corps—“was an easy way for Hegseth to send a strong message from the outset and put the entire JAG corps on notice,” a defense official familiar with his thinking told CNN.…”
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“… “Hegseth’s rhetoric and policies are perceived as a bit unhinged and counterproductive, but the way forward is just to eat it and put your head down and act in accordance with his new policies,” said one current Army JAG.

“No JAG is trying to rock the boat or get noticed.”…”
 
nycfan said:
“… “Hegseth’s rhetoric and policies are perceived as a bit unhinged and counterproductive, but the way forward is just to eat it and put your head down and act in accordance with his new policies,” said one current Army JAG.

“No JAG is trying to rock the boat or get noticed.”…”
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“… Hegseth has made other moves beyond the firings to significantly change the role and responsibilities of military lawyers. He reduced the rank requirement for the top uniformed military legal posts from three stars to two stars for admirals and generals, effectively relegating them to second-tier legal advisers, the former senior defense official said.

And he plans to transfer up to 600 JAGs to the Justice Department to serve as immigration judges, removing them from the military justice system altogether, defense officials familiar with the planning said. …

… One recent flashpoint for the role of US military lawyers has been the series of strikes on boats in the Caribbean, with multiple current and former JAGs telling CNN that the strikes do not appear lawful. Lawyers specializing in international law within DoD’s Office of General Counsel have also raised concerns about the legality of the strikes, sources familiar with the matter said.

Additionally, the top international law expert in that office, Michael D’Annunzio, is set to leave his role soon and move to a position at NATO in Europe, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNN. Former officials familiar with the matter said D’Annunzio has been left out of discussions surrounding the legality of the Caribbean strikes.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense didn’t respond to specific questions about D’Annunzio. But in a statement, Parnell said, “The War Department categorically denies that any Pentagon lawyers with knowledge of these operations have raised concerns regarding the legality of the strikes conducted thus far because they are aware we are on firm legal ground,” adding that there is a “robust system of internal checks and balances within the War Department that offers those involved in operations the opportunity to disagree.”

“No lawyer involved has questioned the legality of the Caribbean strikes and instead advised subordinate commanders and Secretary Hegseth that the proposed actions were permissible before they commenced,” he said….”
 
nycfan said:
“… “Hegseth’s rhetoric and policies are perceived as a bit unhinged and counterproductive, but the way forward is just to eat it and put your head down and act in accordance with his new policies,” said one current Army JAG.

“No JAG is trying to rock the boat or get noticed.”…”
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“… Defense Department lawyers are now deferring to an opinion produced by the Justice Department which says that the president is legally permitted to order the deadly attacks on the boats based on an argument that the US is in the midst of an armed conflict with cartels, CNN has reported.

Legal experts have repeatedly questionedthe legality of the strikes, and the DOJ opinion has not been released publicly.

A Navy JAG who is not directly involved in the decision making around the strikes told CNN that the policy has put some lawyers in a tenuous position.

“The view is, you probably don’t want to stray too far away from what you know is correct,” this person said. That is because the time will inevitably come, they added, when a new administration with a different defense secretary will be in power. “And when that time comes, you don’t want to have evidence of you running too much afoul of what’s required by law.”…”
 
“… Current and former officials familiar with Hegseth’s thinking, however, told CNN that the experience that arguably solidified his disdain the most was when his unit became ensnared in a war crimes investigation by Army lawyers that effectively ended the career of his commander at the time, Col. Michael Steele. Steele was not charged with a crime, but he was formally reprimanded, making it unlikely he would ever be promoted again.

While Hegseth was not involved in the operation that led to the war crimes allegations, which centered around the deaths of four unarmed Iraqi men in 2006, the ensuing probe resulted in serious jail time for several of those Hegseth had served with. It also left a cloud of suspicion hanging over several of his mentors and the unit as a whole.

“The sad part was, the entire unit was painted as a bunch of bad guys and it was just not fair,” a former officer who served in the unit with Hegseth told CNN last year. In 2019 Hegseth became a vocal advocate for at least three servicemembers who’d been either accused or convicted of war crimes.

… Other current and former JAGs, however, said they understand that their role is simply to advise, and that while they can formally record their dissent or opinion that an action is illegal, they also can’t stop a commander from moving forward with it.

“Lawyers advise. Commanders decide,” the former senior defense official told CNN. “It’s just that simple.””
 
The extra judicial killings (in other words, murders) are commanding the headlines (as well they should) but what is not breaking through into the news as much is the build up of US forces in the region.

www.newsweek.com

Update: Map shows US forces in Caribbean as Venezuela watches on

Military tensions between Washington and Caracas are spiraling toward a breaking point as U.S. forces surge across the Caribbean.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com

Which begs the question. to what end? Sure there's a small element of wag the dog, but with Trump always remember to follow the money...

oilprice.com

Maduro Offered Venezuela’s Oil to Trump to Avoid Conflict with U.S. | OilPrice.com

Nicolás Maduro's administration offered Venezuela's oil and gold projects to US companies, and proposed ending deals with Iran and Russia to avoid conflict with the Trump Administration, but the offer was rebuffed.
oilprice.com oilprice.com

Either a percentage stake or the whole enchilada, Venezuela's oil fields what is behind this. Trump my be classically stupid, but he has a genius for grift and extortion, and sees in a way that the general public does not yet, how ridiculously powerfully the full force and power of the US Government (that the supreme court and congress have given him a blank check to) can be used to enable this grift and extortion.
 
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nycfan said:
IMG_0254.jpeg

🎁 —> They Celebrated Vigilante Justice on the Battlefield. Then They Brought It Home.
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“… To replace the Army’s top lawyer, Hegseth chose Maj. Gen. Bobby Christine, a former Republican U.S. attorney and National Guard officer.

“We’re just slowly eroding the rule of law until it just doesn’t exist and everyone’s comfortable with it,” said Nate Bankson, a retired lieutenant colonel and former Special Operations lawyer. “It sets the conditions for the misuse of the armed forces.”…”
 
Ddseddse said:
The extra judicial killings are commanding the headlines (as well they should) but what is not breaking through into the news as much is the build up of US forces in the region.

www.newsweek.com

Update: Map shows US forces in Caribbean as Venezuela watches on

Military tensions between Washington and Caracas are spiraling toward a breaking point as U.S. forces surge across the Caribbean.
www.newsweek.com www.newsweek.com

Which begs the question. to what end? Sure there's a small element of wag the dog, but with Trump always remember to follow the money...

oilprice.com

Maduro Offered Venezuela’s Oil to Trump to Avoid Conflict with U.S. | OilPrice.com

Nicolás Maduro's administration offered Venezuela's oil and gold projects to US companies, and proposed ending deals with Iran and Russia to avoid conflict with the Trump Administration, but the offer was rebuffed.
oilprice.com oilprice.com

Either a percentage stake or the whole enchilada, Venezuela's oil fields what is behind this. Trump my be classically stupid, but he has a genius for grift and extortion, and sees in a way that the general public does not yet, how ridiculously powerfully the full force and power of the US Government (that the supreme court and congress have given him a blank check to) can be used to enable this grift and extortion.
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This is an excellent point.

Note, too, that the newly minted Nobel Peace Prize winner from Venezuela dedicated her prize to Trump and is encouraging him to topple the (super corrupt, anti-democratic) Maduro regime.
 
Background about the court martial a in Hegseth’s unit (he was not involved in the crimes):

“Military personnel manning a U.S. Army command outpost in Iraq found the radio report suspicious. During an operation to hunt suspected al-Qaeda militants, American soldiers involved notified their commanders that they had just killed three detainees who, they said, had broken free of their restraints and attacked them.


The soldiers had been in combat for months in Samarra, a city about 80 miles northwest of Baghdad, where a vicious insurgency had taken hold. The detainees’ deaths on May 9, 2006, triggered an extensive U.S. military investigation, leading to courts-martial, two murder convictions, and a career-ending letter of reprimand for Col. Michael Steele, the troops’ brigade commander. In the end, those found guilty acknowledged under oath that they had lied about the detainees’ escape, and instead set them loose and shot them in the back as they ran away.

“Every single person that was involved in that has had an indelible mark left on them,” Steele told The Washington Post in an interview. He attributed the murders to “guys that decided to go rogue.”

The cases have taken on new significance with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of Pete Hegseth for defense secretary. Hegseth was a 26-year-old lieutenant in the Army National Guard when he joined that unit, the 101st Airborne Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, in summer 2005 just ahead of its deployment. Though he was not present during the murders and had no role in them, the incident was formative, other soldiers said, with men he grew to care about ensnared in the case….”

🎁 —> https://wapo.st/3WCLMaW
 
nycfan said:
This is an excellent point.

Note, too, that the newly minted Nobel Peace Prize winner from Venezuela dedicated her prize to Trump and is encouraging him to topple the (super corrupt, anti-democratic) Maduro regime.
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Trump will back whichever side funnels the most money to him and his cronies.
 
Anyone remember the October morning of 1962 when we woke up to learn of Russian missiles in Cuba? There could be a next time...but, North Korean. Just keep f'ing around genius...self-proclaimed. Oh, I remember...cost me another year active duty.
 
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tarheelbillie said:
Anyone remember the October morning of 1962 when we woke up to learn of Russian missiles in Cuba? There could be a next time...but, North Korean. Just keep f'ing around genius...self-proclaimed. Oh, I remember...cost me another year active duty.
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I was not born yet but my dad was in the Air Force then and talked about it quite a lot.
 
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