|
In a perfect world, newspapers wouldn’t publish misleading stories. But people make mistakes and so corrections or retractions are sometimes in order. As a third-best option, it’s nice when a news outlet like the Washington Post is willing to publish an opinion piece criticizing the paper’s own reporting. Post columnist Marc Thiessen wrote on Thursday morning: The Post reported last week that, based on a “spoken directive” from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the U.S. military carried out what is known as a “double-tap” strike in the Caribbean Sea — hitting a Venezuelan vessel that had the signature of a drug boat, then launching a follow-on strike that sank the boat and killed the survivors. The Post quoted experts suggesting that second strike was a “war crime” that could subject those involved to future prosecution. Hegseth said Tuesday that he was unaware that there had been any survivors or a follow-on strike until hours later. But even if he had directly ordered the second attack, there is nothing unlawful about hitting a military target multiple times to make sure it has been
eliminated. Much of the criticism of the second strike has come from people who didn’t like the first strike either but understand that many Americans like the idea of blowing up cocaine traffickers. This is especially true given the horrific recent spike in cocaine-related deaths, which often occur because fentanyl has been mixed into the cocaine. “The number of overdose deaths involving cocaine increased from 4,681 in 2011 to 29,449 in 2023,” reports the federal Centers for Disease Control. Given this lethal combination, there is a natural public desire to try to interdict both elements
of the deadly cocktail. This week at a cabinet meeting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem proclaimed success on both counts, saying to President Trump:
|
