this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2025
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is attempting to distance himself from the first U.S. airstrike on September 2 that targeted two shipwrecked men who had survived an earlier U.S. strike on a boat the Pentagon says was carrying drugs, without providing evidence

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[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 hours ago

He clearly has no idea what "fog of war" means, mistaking it for "fog of bullshit to cover his sorry ass."

[–] Linktank@lemmy.today 74 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Why would that matter when he already said "Kill them all"?

[–] Salamanderwizard@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago

He must've been worried there were cartel hiding as props. Hegs obviously plays to much prop hunt.

[–] mercano@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Does he think “Fog of War” is an actual fog bank?

[–] Muehe@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Apparently he does:

During a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Hegseth said he did not see any survivors in the water, saying the vessel “exploded in fire, smoke, you can’t see anything. ... This is called the fog of war.”

[–] floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago

Yeah... The US military totally can't see through smoke. What even is IR?

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 37 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Bullshit, whatever platform launched these missiles was likely a predator drone, helicopter or fighter jet. Any of these platforms have the capability to outrun, outmaneuver and encircle a powerboat easily. Categorically "fog of war" doesn't work here because there is no fog, there is just a military pointlessly murdering people like shooting fish in a barrel. The US military has the capability to read the writing on a tattoo off of a crew member at night on one of these boats from far enough away that the surveillance equipment wouldn't even be detected by the crew, the idea that a fog of war existed for the US military here is darkly hilarious and evil and if taken at face value is basically an admission of stunning incompetence that in my opinion demands legal action and jail time.

This excuse is equivalent to saying you aren't responsible for where all the bullets go when you shoot at a target on a shooting range because of the "fog of war" of target shooting.... No... you have to CHOOSE to fire every bullet and you have to CHOOSE not to pay attention to what you are shooting at. There should NEVER be fog of war when you are target shooting, period! Most gun owners would look at you like you had three heads if you were talking about target shooting with a rifle and remarked that you would casually fire in a direction without knowing if it was safe and passing off the comment with a shrug and a laugh saying "well how am I supposed to know where the bullets went???!?". Here it is so much worse, we are talking about using multi-million dollar military equipment to murder people in cold blood to "hopefully" start a bullshit war to cover for this administrations crimes and utter incompetence from top to bottom.

Maybe Hegseth is mistaking a "Fog Of War" for a crushing hangover from being constantly drunk?

[–] Muehe@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

I had to go to a different source, but here is the actual quote:

During a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Hegseth said he did not see any survivors in the water, saying the vessel “exploded in fire, smoke, you can’t see anything. ... This is called the fog of war.”

So yeah, he thinks "fog of war" means literal fog...

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

And this isn't a war? I mean, that's the biggest part. These are innocent fishing dudes, most of them.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Even if this was a war, which I agree it is absurd to claim there is any kind of war being threatened against the US here, this is still murder.

After a missile strike destroys a boat and leaves survivors clinging to burning wreckage, clearly neutralizing any possible threat as the missile strike victims are now in need of emergency rescue, it is a CLEARLY warcrime to leverage an overpowering military advantage to simply turn around and murder the survivors because... you can?

There is a logic and system of rules for what determines when lethal force is approved and necessary in most professional militaries, there certainly used to be in the US military although this administration is trying to destroy it as fast as possible with the hopes that it will make us some good reliable enemies and we will be dragged into another war that sufficiently distracts the US populace from how fucking stupid and incompetent these idiots are...

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Absolutely, all of this. What I'm trying to point out is that these are fucking warships going after these little fisherman boats who are most likely just fisherman. It's insane to begin with.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

It is terrorism, there is no other word for it, it is arbitrary indiscriminate violence that is heavily propagandized to instill fear in others for fundamentally political and irrational aims.

[–] Kronusdark@lemmy.world 30 points 2 days ago

So he wasn’t certain there were survivors but fired on a shipwreck anyways?! Just for fun I guess?

[–] devolution@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago

Fog of war only works for soldiers in the field, not some jack off on Signal.

[–] rayyy@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago

Fog of booze, more like it.

[–] trslim@pawb.social 3 points 2 days ago

this guy is such a fucking moron

[–] grimpy@lemmy.myserv.one 23 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago

Fog of Scotch

[–] scutiger@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Hey Petey boy... what do you think fog of war means?

It covers the whole map and you can only see through areas where you have a unit within a few tiles, obviously.

[–] D_C@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

You know when you've just orgasmed real hard and your eyes are glazed over and maybe a little rolled up? That.

He was so happy about the murders of these fishermen that he orgasmed and blurted out "kill em all" in ecstasy.

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago

Didn’t see the survivors? Then why fire again? Dumbass.

[–] Ep1cFac3pa1m@lemmy.world 17 points 3 days ago

MF playing Command and Conquer or something?

[–] fritobugger2017@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

Blind drunk or black out drunk? Why not both?

[–] ieatpwns@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago

he thinks this is age of empires?

[–] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

"Fog of War" is a satirical term made-up to shame reckless murderers BTW, it isn't something you should use to describe yourself

[–] imrighthere@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

No idea where you got that from.

"The fog of war is the uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding one's own capability, adversary capability, and adversary intent during an engagement, operation, or campaign. Military forces try to reduce the fog of war through military intelligence and friendly force tracking systems."

[–] Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 days ago

As an aside to that...Hegseth is using the term literally, rather than metaphorically. As in, he couldn't see any survivors because there was smoke and fire in the way.

[–] plz1@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

We are either at war and this is a war crime, or we are not, and it's state-sanctioned murder. I don't recall Congress declaring war against South America, yet.

[–] FluidBeef@quokk.au 4 points 2 days ago

I’m not familiar with that distillery.

[–] 0ndead@infosec.pub 4 points 2 days ago

Punch this bitch in the face every time he says war

[–] webp@mander.xyz 3 points 2 days ago
[–] thesohoriots@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Fog of war, more like fog of drambuie ya beer-google motherfucker

[–] solariaseven@slrpnk.net 3 points 2 days ago

"Sir, we found that 'black sheep wall' and 'war ain't what it used to be' were clearly typed on this computer, long before the engagement."

[–] CobblerScholar@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Awww is little drunky dumbass scared of consequences?

[–] Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago