Lawmakers Suddenly Care About US Military Killing Civilians? In Venezuela?
The BBC reports that US lawmakers are demanding answers over media claims – specifically from Fox News' Pete Hegseth – that the US military conducted a follow-up strike, killing survivors, on a suspected Venezuelan drug boat. This 'bipartisan inquiry' highlights a peculiar selective outrage. While alleged extrajudicial killings by US forces in the Caribbean spark concern, the systematic,
documented killing of non-combatants in places like Gaza, facilitated by billions in US military aid, barely registers a peep from these same 'concerned' officials (The New York Times has extensively covered Gaza civilian casualties). Strange how the definition of 'unacceptable' civilian deaths shifts depending on the geography and who's pulling the trigger. One might wonder if this sudden
scrutiny is less about true humanitarian concern and more about controlling a potentially embarrassing narrative from a 'less reputable' media source about US actions in a 'problematic' region. The military-industrial complex, ever keen on maintaining its image and budget, rarely tolerates unauthorized leaks of its more unseemly operations. After all, if lawmakers actually cared about
accountability for civilian deaths, the discussions around unconditional military aid to allies with documented human rights abuses—like Israel, which received $3.8 billion in US military aid in 2023—would look very different.