Top Military Lawyers Issue Statement on Trump War Crimes
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Biltema.
Valvomme kun muut nukkuvat. Eläinsairaala Mevet päivystää Helsingin pitäjänmäessä vuoden jokaisena päivänä ja yönä. Tervetuloa Mevetiin. Evidensia.fi kautta Mevet.
Hei, kuka ajaa? Mä oon juonu vain neljä. Niin me nyt sit mennään. Mitäs täällä arvotaan? Bussilla, taksilla tai selvällä kyydillä tietty? No tottakai, obviously näin. Vaikea tilanne. Helppo ratkaisu. Rattiin vain selvänä. Liikenneturva.
A group of former top military lawyers just put out a powerful statement stating that Pete Hegseth's orders to kill any survivors in connection with the military strikes of the fishing vessels off the coast of Venezuela constitute war crimes. Specifically, this group of former top military lawyers state that the former jag working group that's what they're called unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders if true to constitute war crimes murder or both They put out what's called a statement of the former JAG's working group on media reports of Pentagon no quarter orders in Caribbean boat strikes. Just so you know, JAG refers to Judge Advocates General, and that's the name given to military lawyers.
And this group of former top military lawyers that calls itself this working group of former JAG military lawyers. They were formed after the Secretary of Defense, Hegseth, fired the top JAG officers from other branches in the military, from the Air Force, and from the Army. Let me read for you what this letter, this statement states. 29th November 2025. Yesterday, the Washington Post and CNN reported that the Secretary of Defense personally issued orders to quote, kill everybody aboard a civilian vessel suspected of narco trafficking. The attack on the 2nd of September 2025 that targeted a vessel carrying 11 civilians and allegedly an unknown quantity of drugs. The first strike resulted in near total destruction of the vessel.
However, two survivors were apparently observed via surveillance video clinging to wreckage, whereupon the commander directing the operation ordered a second strike. The second strike killed both of the survivors. The former JAGS working group unanimously considered both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both. Our group was established in February 2025 in response to the Secretary of Defense's firing of the Army and Air Force Judge Advocates General and his systemic dismantling of the military's legal guardrails. Had those guardrails been in place, we are confident they would have prevented these crimes. If the US military operation to interdict and destroy suspected narco trafficking vessels is a non-international armed conflict, as the Trump administration suggests,
Orders to kill everybody, which can reasonably be regarded as an order to give, quote, no quarter and to, quote, double tap a target in order to kill survivors, are clearly illegal under international law. In short, they are war crimes. If the U.S. military operation is not an armed conflict of any kind, these orders to kill helpless civilians clinging to the wreckage of a vessel our military destroyed would subject everybody from the Secretary of Defense down to the individual who pulled the trigger to prosecution under the U.S. law for murder. We call upon Congress to investigate and the American people to oppose any use of the U.S. military that involves the intentional targeting of anyone. Enemy combatants, noncombatants, or civilians rendered oars day combat out of the fight as a result of their wounds or the destruction of the ship or aircraft carrying them.
We also advise our fellow citizens that orders like those described above are the kinds of patently illegal orders all military members have a duty to disobey. Since orders to kill survivors of an attack at sea are patently illegal, anybody who issues or follows such orders can and should be prosecuted for war crimes, murder, or both. and they go into a summary of what went down. Regardless of whether the U.S.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–7:34
2
What breaking statement did former top military lawyers issue about the Venezuela boat strikes?
7:34–13:03
3
Who are the 'former JAGs working group' and why were they formed?
13:03–15:51
4
What do media reports allege the Secretary of Defense ordered during the September 2, 2025 strikes?
15:51–17:59