An ambush shooting attack on Nov. 25 targeting two West Virginia National Guard soldiers just blocks from the White House, killed Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and severely wounded Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe. The suspect in the shooting, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was a member of a CIA “Zero Unit,” an elite squad of Afghans that killed and captured suspected terrorists. In response, President Trump announced a series of extreme measures barring Afghans from entering the U.S., pausing all asylum decision for migrants now in the country and reviewing the green card status of people from 19 nations.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of lawmakers are calling for an investigation into the Trump regime’s bombing of 22 alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific which have resulted in at least 83 deaths, and a Washington Post report that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had given a verbal order to kill survivors of a Sept. 2 U.S. boat strike. The former Fox News host, who calls himself Secretary of War, later shifted responsibility for the order to Admiral Frank Bradley, while supporting the decision to kill all survivors aboard that boat.
These revelations came just days after six Democratic legislators posted a video message to U.S. soldiers advising them that they have a legal obligation to refuse to carry out unlawful or unconstitutional orders from superiors. Trump labeled the six as “traitors,” who should be arrested, tried and face execution. The FBI has since launched an inquiry into the six lawmakers and the Pentagon is investigating Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a Navy captain, announcing he may be recalled to face a court martial. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran, former president and current national board member of Veterans For Peace. Here, he responds to the lethal attack on the two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., and allegations of Trump-Pentagon war crimes committed in bombing small boats in international waters.
GERRY CONDON: The position of Veterans for Peace is that the National Guard should not be deployed to any U.S. cities nor should any active duty military. In fact, it’s an illegal deployment—violates the Posse Comitatus Act and the U.S. Constitution to be deploying U.S. troops in U.S. domestically, in U.S. cities for law enforcement purposes, unless there is a significant insurrection. Of course, Trump will tell you that there’s an insurrection going on everywhere. The lies of this administration are just epic.
Another aspect of this that needs to be examined, of course, as is widely known now that’s publicized—the man who carried out the attack was said to be mentally troubled. But he’s probably troubled by the experience he had in Afghanistan. He was part of an Afghan military unit that worked very, very closely with the CIA, where they had night raids and targeted killings of high-level Taliban commanders and whatnot.
So it’s kind of a classic example of the violence coming home from abroad, coming home to haunt the country from where it emanated. Veterans for Peace certainly sends their sympathies to the families, especially of this young woman who’s passed away. She’s only 20 years old and by all counts, a wonderful young woman who thought she was serving her country. And the young man who’s I guess still fighting for his life and it’s really atrocious that their tragic deaths are being immediately jumped upon by Trump to further his attacks on immigrants, not just Afghan immigrants. But now he’s saying he’s not going to let any immigrants in from the so-called Third World and he’s just upping the ante.
SCOTT HARRIS: Jerry, as many of our listeners are aware, the Washington Post and other outlets have reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a second strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in September after the commanders on the scene reported that there were two survivors. If true, of course, this is likely a war crime, and so far, 22 boats have been destroyed by the US military, with the reports I’ve read said 83 people have died and we don’t know how many in this matter of standing orders that survivors should be killed. What’s your reaction to hearing this news?
For more information, visit Veterans for Peace at veteransforpeace.org.
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