Hegseth’s Defense Is the Same Script Used to Sell Torture
Summary
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth rejected impeachment allegations over U.S. strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats, saying the operations were justified. The article says his public defense echoed arguments used by the George W. Bush administration to defend CIA detainee interrogation practices, while noting that the legal basis for the strikes is disputed.Key Facts
- Republican Representative Thomas Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth.
- The articles allege unauthorized military operations, disregard for laws protecting civilians, and extrajudicial killings in strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats.
- Massie's resolution says the maritime strikes killed at least 243 people.
- The House voted 211-204 to refer the impeachment articles to committee, effectively blocking the effort at that stage.
- Hegseth said he stood behind every operation and would conduct them again.
- The administration describes those killed as “narco-terrorists” and asserts wartime authority for the strikes; human-rights organizations dispute the legal premise.
- The article compares Hegseth's defense to arguments used by Bush administration officials to defend CIA interrogation practices.
- A Senate Intelligence Committee report found that CIA interrogation techniques had not produced the information originally claimed and that 26 of 119 detainees had been wrongfully held.
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