The situation in Venezuela is extremely bad, but it is also bringing up some important moral issues.  The Trump administration has been bombing boats off the coast of Venezuela.  The excuse is drugs.

It is hard to believe that these boats are traveling hundreds of miles or thousands of miles to deliver drugs.  But even if that is the case, it doesn’t give the right to the U.S. government to blow them up.

There is absolutely no proof that these boats are carrying drugs.  There is no trial for the people on board the boats.  Some of them are probably fishermen.  And even if they were carrying drugs, since when do we issue the death penalty for carrying drugs?  Plus, it makes it even worse that the U.S. government is doing this to a sovereign country.

Imagine if Russia or China started blowing up boats off the coast of Florida because they suspected they had drugs.  How would that go down?

The big controversy is that there was at least one boat that was bombed that had survivors.  There were orders to kill the remaining survivors.  The more controversial part should be blowing up the boats in the first place, but at least it is getting attention for something.

Pete Hegseth is evil and a bumbling fool.  He is mocking and making light of these murders.  He is completely complicit in these murders.  So is Trump.  This issue alone means they are unfit for office.  They are fit for jail for outright murdering people.

Just Following Orders

Six Democratic members of Congress stated that military members should not follow illegal orders.  The Trump administration is investigating these people.  Trump suggested that this is traitorous and even that these members of Congress are subject to the death penalty.

There is no need to defend these particular members of Congress.  They will support illegal and immoral wars when it fits their agenda.  But there is a need to defend what they said and their right to say it.

They were very careful in saying that people can refuse to obey illegal orders.  If the orders are illegal, why would you follow them?  Hey Trump, just don’t give illegal orders and then it won’t be a problem.

There is certainly subjectivity as to what is illegal.  But you don’t have to be a legal scholar to figure out that it is both illegal and immoral to murder people in boats.

Illegal vs. Immoral

Just because something is illegal, it doesn’t mean it is immoral.  And just because something is legal, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is moral.  This isn’t even a strictly libertarian principle that rests on the assumption that initiative government force is immoral.

If the government passes a law stating that it is ok for the government to murder people who haven’t harmed anyone, it doesn’t make it moral.

Trump, his lawyers, and his spokespeople can spout all they want about “narco-terrorists” or “democracy” or “fighting drugs”.  It doesn’t make bombing boaters legal.  And even if they amended the U.S. Constitution to allow for such a thing, it wouldn’t make it moral.

After World War 2, there were the Nuremberg trials.  German officials were convicted for war crimes and killing people even though some of them were just following orders.  Maybe the victors in the war were just trying further embarrass and degrade the Germans, but the principle is still correct.  Following orders is not an excuse when harming innocent people, regardless of the law and regardless of who is barking the orders.

Right now, Trump is saying that he is the dictator and the military has to follow his orders, no matter what they are.  If he believes they must murder boaters off the coast of Venezuela, then that pretty much means that anything goes.

What if Trump orders the murder of his political opponents?  Will he arrest the military members who refuse his orders?  What if he orders that all judges be given the death penalty if they rule against one of his edicts, such as his tariffs?  Should the military and police follow his orders because it is the president issuing the orders?

Maybe this sounds absurd, but that is only because Trump is being absurd.  It is the duty of people to not carry forward illegal and immoral orders.  This is not being a traitor.  It is not seditious, as the evil and foolish Hegseth said.  It is Trump and Hegseth who are being the traitors by issuing illegal and immoral orders.

There is no defense for ordering the intentional murder of innocent people.