Hegseth 'Missed' Second Strike, Public Misses Point
Bloomberg reports Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth wasn't watching when a top US admiral ordered a second strike on a Venezuelan vessel accused of drug-running, claiming he had 'other meetings' after witnessing the first. Hegseth, who, like many D.C. figures, benefits from a system where accountability often takes a back seat to 'executive privilege' for certain operations, voiced full support for
Admiral Frank Bradley's decisions. This convenient blindness mirrors the historical pattern of plausible deniability shielding actions often deemed 'questionable' post-facto. Remember when the US (and its allies) consistently 'misunderstood' civilian casualty reports in Afghanistan or Iraq? Or how public figures claim ignorance on uncomfortable details while staunchly defending the overall policy
that produced them? It's not about watching; it's about not being seen watching—a political art form perfected over decades. Jane Harman, a former Congresswoman, stated she would be "raising hell," yet how many times has Congress effectively held the Executive Branch accountable for controversial military actions since, say, the early 2000s? The real trial isn't just Congress, it's public memory.