Kill them all. That is the order that Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett reportedly gave before the military launched its first attack against alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea. And so then when the initial strike left two men clinging to the smoldering wreckage of this boat, the commander overseeing the operation ordered another strike to comply with Hegset's instructions. And so those two survivors, they were blown apart in the water. That is what we're seeing thanks to reporting from the Washington Post.

And of course, all of this, it's coming as Trump seems closer than ever to authorizing military action on Venezuelan soil aimed at ousting the country's president, Nicholas Maduro. Right, and with Maduro, the White House claims that he's the head of a drug cartel that just recently got labeled as a foreign terrorist organization. So very interestingly, you also have Trump announcing that he has plans to pardon a different Latin American president guilty of bringing more than 500 tons of cocaine into the US over two decades. And so you know with so much to unpack, I want to start at the beginning with the first strike which took place on September 2nd and killed 11 people. Or because current and former officials within the U.S. military and drug enforcement administration,

they have reportedly expressed doubt that everyone on board were actually involved in trafficking. I mean, one DEA official explained that with more people on board, it means less room for drugs to sell. And so they concluded that the 11 people, they may have been a mix of drug runners and illegally trafficked migrants. Right. And there are similar doubts about the identities of more than 80 people that have been killed a nearly two dozen attacks since then. Also, Colombia's president has publicly accused the

United States of killing at least one innocent fisherman, and lawmakers have said that even in classified briefings, Pentagon officials haven't given any specific names of traffickers or syndicate leaders that have been targeted. Also, one of the big things is that there are gaps in the videos that the administration has been releasing of the strikes.

All while you have the Pentagon not fulfilling a bipartisan request from lawmakers to see the unedited footage. But again, also, and I know I sound like a broken record here, even if it was true, which we don't know right now that it is, that all of these people were drug runners, that wouldn't make what happened legal. Right experts as well as current and former U.S. officials have said that these strikes are illegal under U.S. and international law.

They may open up those involved in future prosecution. Because I understand, no matter what this administration is claiming, there is no imminent threat of attack and the United States isn't in an armed conflict with the cartels. And the reason I stress these experts and the people with the experience is because there's a billion fucking talking heads, myself included out there, saying things. But you've got experts like a former military lawyer who previously advised U.S. Special Operations Forces and is now the director of the National Security Law program at Georgetown Law explaining that because there is no real war, killing any of these men in the boats amounts to murder. But also with that, he said, hey, even if the U.S. were at war with these traffickers? In order, like the one that Hexeth allegedly gave to kill all of the boat's occupants, even if they were unable to fight, it would in essence be in order to show no quarter, which would be a war crime. Now with that, the Special Operation Commander overseeing the operation reportedly told subordinates that survivors were legitimate targets because they could theoretically call other traffickers to retrieve them and their cargo.

But in briefing materials provided to the White House the Joint Special Operations Command reportedly said something different

Right arguing that the follow-on strike had been intended to sink the boat and remove a navigation hazard to other vessels not kill the survivors

And so with that you had Democratic Representative Seth Moulton saying the idea that wreckage from one small boat in a vast ocean is a hazard to marine traffic is patently absurd and killing survivors is blatantly illegal and adding,

mark my words, it may take some time, but Americans will be prosecuted for this, either as a war crime or outright murder.

We've also seen some more measured Republican pushback with, for example, representatives

Mike Turner and Don Bacon agreeing that if events went down, as reported, it would have been illegal, but also they questioned whether it really happened that way. So then with that, you had the Republican-led Senate and House Armed Services Committee saying that they're launching inquiries into what happened, and then as far as Heg-Seth, you had him writing on social media. As usual, the fake news is

delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible

warriors fighting to protect the homeland. But then with that, he didn't respond specifically to

the allegations and he actually affirmed that these strikes are specifically intended to be lethal.

He also claimed without providing evidence that every trafficker killed is affiliated with a designated

terrorist organization insisting that current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both

US and international law. And finally, adding in a separate post, we have only just begun to kill

narco terrorists. You then also had Trump saying yesterday that he believed Hagseth 100%, but also

that his administration will look into the matter and claiming that he wouldn't have wanted a second strike. But also as we learn more about what's already happened, what might happen next is what's got a lot of people on edge. Especially as Maduro may have lost his last chance to negotiate. Or you had Trump confirming yesterday that he had a call with Maduro a couple of weeks ago. And while he didn't give details, you had the Miami Herald reporting that he gave the Venezuelan president an ultimatum,

saying something along the lines, you can save yourself and those closest to you, but you must leave the country now. And with that, according to the anonymous sources, the administration offered safe passage out of the country for Maduro, his wife and his son, but only if he agreed to resign right away. but Maduro, he reportedly refused.

Instead, it was reported that he asked for global amnesty for any crimes that he and his associates may have committed, which the White House rejected. And also, it was reported that we asked to keep control the armed forces in return for giving up political control and allowing free elections to take place, which the White House again, also rejected. And so then, not long after that, you had Trump saying in a Thanksgiving address that the U.S. would soon be taking action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela

...