Summary
Concerns have emerged over Trump’s defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth, who has criticized the Geneva Conventions and U.S. military rules of engagement as overly restrictive.
Critics, including retired military officers, argue his rhetoric could undermine the military’s commitment to lawful conduct and accountability.
Hegseth has supported pardons for service members convicted of war crimes and questioned the application of international laws to extremist adversaries.
While Hegseth claims he does not condone war crimes, experts worry his stance could confuse troops and erode core military principles.
I mean, yeah. But so has every other defense secretary ever, so…
As opposed to every other US government in the history of US governments? Dont get me wrong it can always be worse, but still, odd headline. They literally have laws to make sure that nobody can touch their war criminals even if caught red handed.
The US has it codified into law to invade The Hague if any US soldier is indicted by the UN.
They mean we won’t even abide by our own laws anymore. While our political elite love to yeet the military all over the world, the rank and file has been largely subject to international laws of war while overseas.
Now they want the rank and file to have as much impunity as our political elite.
While our political elite love to yeet the military all over the world, the rank and file has been largely subject to international laws of war while overseas.
Has it? Because while I could be wrong kidnapping civilians and torturing them in Guantanamo, the more than a few massacres committed by the US army in Iraq and Afghanistan and of course the indiscriminate drone bombings all seem to be blatant violations of international law.
The rank and file aren’t doing Guantanamo. And the reason we know about the war crimes that have happened at that level is because the military prosecuted them. The US isn’t refusing the ICC to protect it’s soldiers. It’s the politicians.
Twelve soldiers were convicted of various charges relating to the incidents, with all of the convictions including the charge of dereliction of duty. Most soldiers only received minor sentences. Three other soldiers were either cleared of charges or were not charged. No one was convicted for the murders of the detainees.
From the Wikipedia article on Abu Gharib. If this counts as prosecution then the IDF also “prosecutes” its war criminals. Where’s the punishment for the systematic rape, torture and murder? These aren’t crimes that should be settled by twelve rank and file soldiers getting a slap on the wrist. By the way, we know about these war crimes because newspapers reported on them and publicized them, and that’s why the US army “prosecuted” them. Your knowledge of US violations of international law seems to be very whitewashed.
He will. Period.
What fucking scum is only concerned now? The US has been war criming with impunity my whole life and long before it.
Your official policy is to invade the fucking UN if a solder gets charged with a war crime. Who fucking cares if he pardons someone.
I’d pretty much guarantee that “willing to turn a blind eye to U.S. war crimes” was a prerequisite as far as Trump and his handlers were concerned.
pretty sure the prerequisite was “willing to order warcrimes on US citizens.”
Could? Turn a blind eye? He’s being hired specifically to ENCOURAGE US, Israeli, Saudi, and Russian war crimes.
US Military: … ? … we commit war crimes?
As opposed to all other leaders of the second most moral army in the world? Fuck off with that shit.
Some military officers worry that Pete Hegseth could turn a blind eye to U.S. war crimes
Of course he will! All of these appointees are hand-picked to dismantle the thing they’re put in charge of.
The US response to Israel’s actions in Gaza and the rest of the region should be a straightforward example of what the “Defender of Democracy” is okay with. I imagine war crimes will just be the tip of the spear.
Yeah, if anyone still believed that ‘international law’ and ‘rules based world order’ were real, the war in Gaza should prove that those laws only existed to enforce colonialism, and weren’t ever meant to apply to the US or its allies.
Yeah, thats a real concern.
After all, the trials over the Bush administration legalizing Torture went on for so long and went a long way to helping the rest of the world trust the US.
I feel like he probably listed that as a proposed stance when he submitted his CV. For the circles he’s going to be working with: that’s a feature, not a bug.
He’s a fucking drunkard that’ll do nothing about anything.
He’s going to be too busy working under the resolute desk to notice anything.
