Why the second Venezuela drug boat strike could be a war crime | FourSight

The Trump administration is facing accusations of war crimes after a series of deadly strikes on drug boats coming from Venezuela. We investigate the "double tap" attack that has sparked congressional inquiries and forced Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth to deny allegations he issued a "kill them all" order.

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Since September 2nd, the US military has carried out at least 22 strikes on small boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing more than 80 people as part of President Trump's aggressive new ‘War on Drugs’. But legal experts tell us that the tactics used - including an alleged second strike on shipwrecked survivors authorized by Admiral Frank Bradley - could constitute a breach of international law.

In this video, we examine the legal justifications put forward by the White House, from designating cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organisations to comparisons with ISIS and Al-Qaeda made by the White House and Hegseth. We speak to military lawyers and former National Security Adviser John Bolton about whether these strikes are legitimate self-defence or illegal extrajudicial killings and what the true motivation for them might be.

As the US ramps up its military presence in the region with the USS Gerald Ford and aircraft in Puerto Rico, we ask: is this really about drugs, or is it the start of a regime change operation against Nicolas Maduro? And does a secret Department of Justice memo provide the Trump administration with a "golden shield" against prosecution?

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Chapters:

00:00 - Intro: Is it a war crime?
00:52 - Timeline: Trump’s escalation against Venezuela
03:05 - Hegseth "Kill Them All" & Admiral Bradley ‘double-tap’
06:19 - Is it a war? The legal arguments tested
09:18 - The "Golden Shield" get out
11:55 - So what happens next?


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