In August 2025, the U.S. military issued an execute order requiring reasonable certainty that a target is affiliated with a drug trafficking organization to authorize a strike.
Posted by Behind the Bastards, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
Behind the BastardsOct 3, 2026
Multiple sources report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued an execute order on August 5, 2025, which required 'reasonable certainty' that targets were members of or affiliated with a designated terrorist organization and did not require positive identification. The claim's central assertion is supported, and the extracted wording is a faithful paraphrase of the post.
Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.
What was said
… Sorry to digress. Anyway, in mid-2025, Trump signed a classified directive that authorized the military to use force against a secret list of 24 Dto's. Not to be left behind, HEGSA followed this up with an execute order in August 2025 that contained targeting instructions that didn't require positive identification of a target, instead, quote unquote, reasonable certainty that a person is a member of or affiliated with a DTO, per The Washington Post. I want to stop right here and say that under Obama, the standard for drone strikes in the Middle East was quote unquote near certainty, and they still struck a marriage possession in Yemen. …
Behind the Bastards · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. A court filing in ACLU v. DOJ, quoting the Washington Post, says the August 2025 execute order required DOD to 'determine with reasonable certainty' that boats contained adult males who were members of or affiliated with a designated terrorist organization, and did not require positive identification.[1][2]
Supports. Legal Clarity reports that on August 5, 2025, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued an execute order requiring 'reasonable certainty' of membership in or affiliation with a designated terrorist organization, and stating that it did not require positive identification.[3]
Supports. The WOLA analysis confirms that Hegseth issued an 'execute order' with targeting guidelines on August 5, 2025, against the 24 designated terrorist organizations.[4]
Context. Sources describe the execute order as secret and based on public reporting, so the exact wording comes via press and court filings rather than the order itself; no source contradicts the reasonable-certainty standard.[4][5]
Sources
5 sources: 5 not rated
- 1Am. Civil Liberties Union v. U.S. Dep't of Justicecase-law.vlex.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 2ACLUSept29FINAL - clean - Courthouse News Servicecourthousenews.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3Trump Bombing Mexico: Strikes, CIA Ops, and What’s Nextlegalclarity.org · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Killing Spree: Extrajudicial executions in the U.S. boat strikes campaignwola.org · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5[PDF] The United States' Dirty War on “Narco Terrorism” - ohchrohchr.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- In August 2025, the Department of Defense issued an execute order containing targeting instructions that required reasonable certainty rather than positive identification of a target.True
- In mid-2025, Donald Trump signed a classified directive authorizing the military to use force against a list of 24 drug trafficking organizations.True
- The Justice Department signed a secret opinion in the summer of 2025 justifying boat strikes by stating the United States was in an armed conflict with narco-terrorists.Mixed
- On September 2, 2025, a U.S. military strike killed nine people on a boat in the Caribbean.True
- President Trump designated drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.True