On September 2, the US government claimed that military operators acting on its behalf murdered 11 foreign nationals aboard a boat in international waters off the coast of Venezuela.<\/p>\n
I say \u201cclaimed\u201d because Venezuelan communications minister Freddy \u00d1\u00e1\u00f1ez suggests that a video of the murders released by the US government is an AI-generated \u201cdeepfake.\u201d Regimes lie, and it\u2019s not obvious which regime is lying in this particular instance.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s assume that US regime officials, including US secretary of defense Pete Hegseth and US secretary of state Marco Rubio, were truthful in their claims.<\/p>\n
If so, it\u2019s reasonable to also assume they\u2019re truthful when they claim that these 11 murders are just the start of a \u201ccampaign,\u201d and that the US government intends to \u201cblow up and get rid of\u201d (per Rubio) even more victims.<\/p>\n
When someone credibly confesses to murder, announces an intent to commit further murders, and clearly possesses the means to do so, it seems to me that whatever law applies should be brought to bear.<\/p>\n
Under 18 U.S. Code \u00a7 1111, \u201cWithin the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, Whoever is guilty of murder in the first degree shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for life; Whoever is guilty of murder in the second degree, shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said jurisdiction is defined in 18 U.S. Code \u00a7 7. It includes any vessel or aircraft belonging in whole or in part to the United States, meaning that the military personnel involved in the murder mission are themselves criminals\u2026 IF the law is applied.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the entire chain of command, all the way up to US president Donald Trump (who has publicly admitted to approving the crime) are clearly on the hook for \u201cconspiracy to murder\u201d under 18 U.S. Code \u00a7 1117\u2026 IF the law is applied.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the US Supreme Court ruled last year that presidents enjoy immunity for all \u201cofficial acts,\u201d even illegal ones like, say, ordering 11 murders. So Trump himself is as unlikely to be held accountable for this atrocity as for other crimes he\u2019s ordered, such as the murder of eight-year-old American girl Nawar Anwar al-Awlaki in 2017.<\/p>\n
But what about Hegseth, Rubio, and the various military officers who must have been involved in planning and directing the operation?<\/p>\n
Holding them legally culpable may be as unlikely as bringing Trump himself to justice, but it\u2019s theoretically possible. So far as I can tell there\u2019s nothing to prevent a grand jury from indicting some or all of them.<\/p>\n
The biggest hurdle to get over is that the US Department of Justice answers to Trump and likely won\u2019t ASK a grand jury to do any such thing.<\/p>\n
So, once again, the US government will get away with murdering anyone it announces is a \u201cterrorist,\u201d \u201cdrug smuggler,\u201d etc., without having to prove the charges.<\/p>\n
The only unique aspect of this particular mass murder is that its sole purpose seems to have been to distract us from the matter of Donald Trump\u2019s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n
Did it work?<\/p>\n