The US Secretary of Defence is facing scrutiny for potentially having committed a war crime. 

Pete Hegseth is facing scrutiny over a strike he ordered on a boat in the Caribbean Sea suspected of smuggling drugs.  

The Washington Post reported last week that Hegseth authorised a highly unusual second strike to kill all survivors on the boat – reports Hegseth has denied.  

US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking that Hegseth has previously railed against the Geneva Convention and the legal rules of engagement. 

In his book, Arnold says, Hegseth shares an anecdote in which he tells the soldiers in his platoon to ignore such legal advice. 

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