Pete Hegseth asked U.S. Navy Admiral Alvin Holsey to retire in October after Holsey expressed concerns about the legality of the Trump administration’s boat bombings in the Caribbean, according to a new report.
On Wednesday, the _Wall Street Journal_published a report that cited two unnamed Pentagon officials, who said Hegseth asked the admiral to step down in “a de facto ouster that was the culmination of months of discord between Hegseth and the officer” after Holsey expressed “concerns about the legality of lethal strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.”
Shortly after, Hegseth announced that Holsey – the commander of U.S. Southern Command – would be retiring.
Republicans are so stupid, man.
This is not some squishy left-wing guy. He’s been in a command position, no doubt participating in numerous bombing campaigns and drone strikes throughout his career.
Chopper pilot, and when the guy in charge of an entire carrier strike group capable of leveling a city tells you to cool it with the bombs, he’s saying so from experience that the only way things go is escalation from here.
More importantly, drug interdiction is not the Navy’s job and the Coasties have been arresting narcos, alive, for decades. This is straight up murder.
Especially when you fire again. Firing on a shipwreck is literally a war crime. Obviously illegal…
Or he knew Hegseth would throw him under the bus for the obvious violation of international law and he just wanted to save his own skin.
Probably also had inside knowledge of the long term plan to land troops on Venezuelian soil, and didn’t want his name part of that history chapter.
This country clearly has no rule of law. People just do whatever.
Don’t dare steal a loaf of bread or a shirt for your infant, though.
There are two groups, those for whom the law protects but doesn’t bind, and those who the law binds but doesn’t not protect.
“People”… The majority of us don’t classify as “people”.
“I think I’ll remodel the white house”
Almost right, but the “I think” sounds out of character.
Also too coherent.
Something something…illegal orders…
It must suck to have worked their entire life moving up to such a respectable position only for a measly infantry officer and shitty alcoholic tv personality to swoop in, be your boss, and fire you for doing the right thing. Life really does just favor some of us.
An infantry officer who was only part of the National Guard, at that.
and was put in a pr desk job because he was considered an insider threat based on his general incompetence
I wouldn’t go quietly if I was him. I don’t know why there isn’t a bigger commotion happening within the military when respectable generals are let go like that.
Are they just afraid to stand-up because they will lose their retirement package or something?
You don’t get to those high ranking positions without having an abnormal amount of personal ambition. So these decisions are nothing new, they just do what is best for themselves and carry on.
I doubt that all these high-ranking officers who have been forced out because they won’t follow illegal or just plain stupid orders, are just hanging out at home, sipping drinks on the veranda, as the nation they dedicated their lives to protecting just burns down around us.
What scum like MAGA never understand, is that when you fire your best people for bad reasons, there is a good chance that at least some of them will band together to fight back. By getting rid of his most moral, most experienced officers, he has weakened his own side, and strengthened his own enemy.
If this country finally comes down to a Civil War, the Patriots will have the competent military leadership on their side, while the MAGAs will just have the losers who think they are right, because they are too stupid to know how stupid they are.
the nation they dedicated their lives to protecting just burns down around us.
The US hasn’t needed protection from anything in a long time. What they’ve been protecting is the US’ economic interests, spending trillions on armaments to attack those who can’t defend themselves while people back home die of curable illnesses. They’re not your paladins, they’re the enforcers of your ruling class.
The dumbest thing they can do is create an army of people with nothing left to lose.
And led by competent experienced military leaders, with an axe to grind
MAGAs biggest problem is that they are virtuosically ignorant, and love to show it off. None of these people seem to realize how the political careers of tyrants almost always end. They have no historical knowledge at all, or they’d realize that their biggest role models - Hitler, Mussolini, Ghadafi, Ceauscescu, and nearly every other authoritarian - did NOT die of old age in their sleep.
These people are too stupid to understand that they are staging their own demise. Dunning-Kruger runs strong in MAGA.
None of these people seem to realize how the political careers of tyrants almost always end.
And yet ironically it’s staring them in the face every minute in the virginia state seal.
“Sic Semper Tyrannis” – Thus always to Tyrants.
Their stupidity knows no bounds.
It’s more likely that anyone that high up at this point, after 20 years of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, assisting with Israel, all the other places the US has bombed the shit out of… Has some dirt laundry they don’t want aired in public.
I’m not sure it favors some of us, as it’s a sign all of us collectively have gotten waaay too comfortable letting pieces of shit off the hook for their behavior. If we ever make it out of this I think we need to swing pretty hard the other direction on ‘tolerating’ people being total fucking assholes to everyone else in their career, in politics, in public. Call that shit out, shun them, make them understand freedom of speech does not allow you to literally spew hate speech, threaten people, and generally be a corrupt asshole. None of anyone’s behavior in the GOP since basically 2016, is okay. Obviously this has been going far longer, but 2016 election is when it went full gloves off.
The problem is the system that was set up hundreds of years ago (“liberal democracy”) ended up just incentivizing psychopathy. This system always brings the worst people in society up to the top. Either in government or business.
You can’t be a genuinely good person and become a general, a congressperson or a billionaire.
No, it was this officer’s greatest joy to be relieved of command by a puny puke who will soon be rung up on charges by the ICC. He spoke truth to power as was his duty and now he is free of the consequences of his commander’s choices. I’m sure he will drink a toast to the incarceration and eventual firing squad awaiting Hegseth and subordinates for war crimes.
Holy fantasy batman.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2002/08/03/us-hague-invasion-act-becomes-law
I have to agree, it’s nice to want things, but…
Do you write fan fiction?
That’d be great
Good for that admiral. If there are any repercussions (however unlikely) a bullet was dodged.
He would have definitely been thrown under the bus
Murderous bullies need to be met with virtuous Luigi Mangiones.
The orange felon/rapist/liar wants subordinate stooges that he can shit on, not patriots who serve their country and uphold the constitution.
do you want the Venezolan oil? say the truth 😆
It’s not fair! Vladimir gets to take whatever he wants and I don’t! And I’m a way better boy! I want Venezuela! Now!
Murica needs the oil! There no other source of energy! The earth’s dangerously too cold! more carbon in atmosphere.
The Earth is too cold for them because these demons are used to living in Hell.
man, this entire topic of Venezuela is the more intrusive thing that I had seen in the continent… it sounds like Rafael Videla returning from his tomb…
