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The Conversation
The Conversation
Andrew Bell, Senior Research Scholar at the Center for International Security and Conflict, Stanford University

US accused of killing Venezuelan drug boat survivors – Trump’s military agenda is based on impunity

A bombshell revelation on November 28 that the US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, ordered a second strike to kill the survivors of a Venezuelan drug boat targeted by US forces has shocked Congress and American citizens alike.

The US president, Donald Trump, citing Hegseth’s affirmations, has disputed these reports. Trump said Hegseth told him “he did not” give a spoken order to kill all crew members aboard the boat. “I believe him, 100%,” Trump added.

But US lawmakers have pledged to investigate the strike. Mark Kelly, a Democrat senator who recently urged military members to refuse unlawful orders, declared: “We’re going to have a public hearing. We’re going to put these folks under oath. And we’re going to find out what happened.”

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