Pete Hegseth mocks war crime allegation with inflammatory cartoon as cold-blooded order sparks investigation

Pete Hegseth shared a meme of a children’s book turtle character blowing up drug dealers with a rocket launcher in response to allegations he committed war crimes in the Caribbean.

The Pentagon leader’s post comes a week after the Washington Post revealed that Hegseth may have committed a war crime by verbally ordering follow-up strikes that killed survivors on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in the Caribbean.

After US forces targeted a crew of 11 alleged narco-terrorists in September, two survivors could be seen clinging onto the boat’s wreckage. A second strike on the defenseless survivors then occurred following Hegseth’s spoken directive to kill all crew members during the operation.

‘The order was to kill everybody,’ a source told the outlet.

The report has since spurred calls from Democrats and even some Republican lawmakers for a congressional investigation into Hegseth for the possibility of war crimes.

A bipartisan group of senators on the Armed Services Committee, including Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker, vowed to launch ‘vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances’ on Friday.

Hegseth accused WaPo of ‘fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting,’ insisting: ‘Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law.’

Over the weekend, the secretary of war caused even more controversy when he posted a meme mocking the war crime allegations.

The inflammatory cartoon showcases an edited version of a Franklin the Turtle book with the title, ‘Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists.’ The children’s book cartoon turtle can then be seen firing a rocket launched at a boat of cartoon drug smugglers.

Hegseth is accused of ordering a second strike on alleged narco-terrorists

Hegseth now faces an investigation over his conduct during the operation from a bipartisan group of lawmakers

Hegseth responded to the war crime allegations by posting a picture of a turtle character from a children’s book blowing up armed drug dealers

‘For your Christmas wish list…,’ Hegseth added in the caption.

President Donald Trump defended Hegseth from the war crime allegations on Sunday, stating the secretary of war told him he ‘did not order the death of those two men.’

Trump noted that he believed Hegseth and vowed to ‘look into’ the matter because he would not have wanted a second strike.

Lawmakers are set to investigate whether Hegseth ordered a second strike that killed survivors of an alleged Venezuelan drug boat.

Meanwhile, the House lawmakers in charge of the chamber’s Armed Services Committee, GOP Rep. Mike Rogers and Democrat Rep. Adam Smith, said it would investigate the operation.

‘This committee is committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean. We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question,’ said the Republican and Democrat House lawmakers in a joint statement.

The Trump administration over the last several months has launched dozens of attacks aimed at alleged narco-terrorists in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that have killed over 80 people.

Trump told reporters on Sunday that he stands behind Pete Hegseth

Democrats have criticized Trump over the legality of the strikes and the president continues to threaten to oust Venezuela’s dictator Nicolas Maduro.

Despite drawing bipartisan concern and criticism in Congress, the Pentagon has not presented evidence to support the claims that the boats were carrying drugs or were operated by terrorist groups.