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PaperclipPerfector  22hr ago (text post)   2862 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of December 1, 2025

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anyone who thinks we should give drug smugglers free reign is not.

Or, you know, we could take them prisoner?

Or, you know, we could take them prisoner?

There are significant logistical difficulties in doing this before the boat has been hit by a missile. Afterwards, they apparently have been, when reasonably possible.

If you're referring to the purported double-tap specifically, well, is there any good reason to think such a thing happened? You're not seriously taking an anonymous anti-Trump report from the Washington Post at face value in 2025, are you? One so perfectly timed with a Democrat Party psyop that it was almost certainly coordinated? Pity that CIA-Afghani dude went and shot a couple of National Guardsmen who were following "illegal according to Democrat Senator winking and nudging" orders. Really messed up the flow of the news cycle.

You're not seriously taking an anonymous anti-Trump report from the Washington Post at face value in 2025, are you?

The WH confirmed it:

WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The White House on Monday defended a U.S. admiral's decision to conduct multiple strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessel in September, saying he had Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's authorization, even as critics questioned the legality of a strike on survivors. The Washington Post had reported that a second strike was ordered to kill two survivors from the initial strike and to comply with an order by Hegseth that everyone be killed.

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he would not have wanted a second strike on the boat and said Hegseth denied giving such an order.

But White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Hegseth had authorized Admiral Frank Bradley to conduct the strikes on September 2.

"Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated," Leavitt said.

...

Do you read the things you post?

60% of the time, every time. Is this a complaint that the WH confirmed the second strike occurred, but disputed Hegseth's orders?

That's the most obvious problem:

The Washington Post had reported that a second strike was ordered to kill two survivors from the initial strike and to comply with an order by Hegseth that everyone be killed.

and

"Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated," Leavitt said.

Are not completely incompatible, but they're very far from confirmation, and in some ways very specifically in contradiction ("ensure the boat was destroyed"). And Hegseth's specific denial isn't much reason to be generous -- he's a politician! -- but it by definition can not be confirmation.

More subtly, "double-tap" has a specific meaning. While no one's using the strict 'hitting a bomb site to hit first responders' bit, here, it matters very heavily whether the second shot was solely targeting survivors or targeting material; this distinction would be a major difference in between a war crime and a legitimate (if not necessarily ethical) strike. This, likewise, wasn't confirmed by the White House.

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