U.S. Military Willing to Attack “Designated Terrorist Organizations” Within America, General Says

The commander of the arm of the U S military responsible for President Donald Trump s illegal military occupations of American cities mentioned he is willing to conduct attacks on so-called designated terrorist organizations within the U S This startling admission comes after months of extrajudicial killings of alleged members or affiliates of DTOs in the waters near Venezuela which experts and lawmakers say are outright murders Gen Gregory Guillot of U S Northern Command a four-star general who takes his orders from War Secretary Pete Hegseth made clear his position in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee last week When sought about his willingness to attack DTOs within U S borders by Sen Jack Reed D-R I he replied If I had questions I would elevate that to the chairman and the secretary And if I had no concerns and I was confident in the lawful order I would definitely execute that order Guillot s openness about the expected for unprecedented military action within U S borders comes as the White House Pentagon and Justice Department continue to refuse to rule out summary executions of Americans on Trump s secret enemies list after weeks of requests for clarifications from The Intercept Related White House Refuses to Rule Out Summary Executions of People on Its Secret Domestic Terrorist List The military has carried out known attacks in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September killing at least civilians whom it declares are narco-terrorists affiliated with DTOs The largest part current strikes three on Monday in the Pacific Ocean against vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations killed a total of eight people according to U S Southern Command The questionable legal justification for these attacks makes Guillot s response all the more concerning noted Elizabeth Goitein senior director of the Brennan Center s liberty and national safeguard initiative The issue with General Guillot s answer is that it elides the concerns that have already been raised about the lawfulness of conducting military attacks against drug trafficking operations Goitein communicated The Intercept When The Intercept requested if Guillot would be willing to refuse orders if after elevating his concerns to the chair and the secretary he was still not confident in the legality of the orders Teresa C Meadows the U S Northern Command Media and Plans chief replied NORTHCOM does not designate terrorist organizations That is one of the concerns with the administration asserting that the President essentially has a license to kill outside the law based on his own say so mentioned Brian Finucane a former State Department lawyer who is a specialist in counterterrorism issues and the laws of war That prerogative might be wielded elsewhere including inside the United States After the military has conducted summary executions of civilians in the Caribbean at the direction of Trump and Hegseth it is not sufficient anymore for commanders to say to lawmakers that they will run any legal concerns up the chain at the top of which are those who would be giving the order reported Sarah Harrison who previously served as associate general counsel at the Pentagon s Office of General Counsel International Affairs Rather to make clear they will uphold the rule of law they should be definitive in saying that they will disobey patently unlawful orders which include the scenario Senator Reed laid out for Gen Guillot Read Our Complete Coverage License to Kill Trump narrated reporters last week that terrestrial strikes are imminent Now we re starting by land and by land is a lot easier and that s going to start happening he explained It s land strikes on horrible people When sought if the land strikes would be limited to the administration s regime-change project for Venezuela Trump offered a much broader threat It doesn t necessarily have to be in Venezuela he reported The White House did not respond to a request for clarification if such attacks would occur in the United States I do not have any indications of an enemy within Guillot attended an address in September by Trump and Hegseth at which the president recounted the NORTHCOM chief and hundreds of other generals and admirals that the United States was involved in a war from within and that a major part in it would be played by chosen of the people in this room Guillot pleaded ignorance when questioned about who he might be ordered to attack I do not have any indications of an enemy within he disclosed last week NORTHCOM which provides command and control of homeland defense and manages military activity in North America has overseen troop deployments in Chicago Los Angeles and Portland Oregon that federal judges have ruled were illegal because Trump administration contends of rampant civil unrest were determined to be overblown or fictional Trump has even falsely claimed for example that members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua have engaged in hand-to-hand combat with U S troops on the streets of D C The White House has for weeks failed to address this falsehood The founders designed our executive to be a system of checks and balances Defendants however make clear that the only check they want is a blank one U S District Judge Charles Breyer wrote in a -page opinion last week ordering Trump to end the Los Angeles troop deployment It defies the record and common sense to conclude that risks stemming from protests in August October or even present day could not have been sufficiently managed without resorting to the National Guard Within the context of the Federal Protection Mission forces under the command and control of NORTHCOM protect federal property and federal personnel as they enforce federal law mentioned Meadows despite the announcement having little to do with questions posed by The Intercept The Pentagon refused to say if DTOs are operating in America directing The Intercept to the White House and Justice Department The Justice Department pointed The Intercept to comments made on Monday by Bill Essayli who leads the U S attorney s office in Los Angeles as he informed the weekend arrests of members of what he called a far-left anti-government domestic terror cell known as the Turtle Island Liberation Front for allegedly planning a series of bomb attacks across Southern California on New Year s Eve This analysis was initiated in part due to the September executive order signed by President Trump to root out left-wing domestic terror organizations in our country such as Antifa and other radical groups he explained referencing National Assurance Presidential Memorandum or NSPM- under which Trump instructed his administration to target U S progressive groups and their donors as well as political activists who profess undefined anti-American anti-fascist or anti-Christian sentiments NSPM- also directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to compile a list of any such groups or entities to be designated as domestic terrorist organization s and Bondi has ordered the FBI to compile a list of groups or entities engaging in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism according to a December Justice Department memo Implementing National Shield Presidential Memorandum- Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence which the Justice Department shared with The Intercept Essayli also referenced that memo stating that it mobilized federal law enforcement to prioritize and counter domestic terrorism and political violence investigations He added As a product of those directives we built this event Justice Department spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre did not respond to repeated requests for clarification about whether the Turtle Island Liberation Front and a supposed more militant faction known as the Order of the Black Lotus were on either the domestic or designated terrorist lists Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller issued an ominous pronouncement about the administration s crackdown on dissent in America on Monday Following the issuance of NSPM- vast governing body support have been unleashed to find and dismantle the violent fifth column of domestic terrorists clandestinely operating inside the United States he wrote on X The post U S Military Willing to Attack Designated Terrorist Organizations Within America General Says appeared first on The Intercept