Brendan Nyhan
@brendannyhan.bsky.social
Dartmouth political scientist and Bright Line Watch co-director. Previously Upshot NYT / CJR contributor, Spinsanity co-founder, All the President's Spin co-author.
https://sites.dartmouth.edu/nyhan/
http://brightlinewatch.org
https://sites.dartmouth.edu/nyhan/
http://brightlinewatch.org
Reposted by Brendan Nyhan
This is likely why DOD didn’t want to refer to the survivors as “detainees” — if they sought to hold them under a law of war framework, they might have to defend their legal theory for the entire killing spree in court. And they know it does not hold water.
And the reason DOD wants the survivors of the boat strikes sent anywhere but the U.S. —> they don’t want to have to defend their summary execution campaign in court.
NEW: Pentagon lawyers asked State Dept. if US could send survivors of Trump's boat strikes to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Then Pentagon pushed to have survivors sent anywhere but the US — to prevent any US court cases. Gift link to our @nytimes.com story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
December 10, 2025 at 4:05 AM
This is likely why DOD didn’t want to refer to the survivors as “detainees” — if they sought to hold them under a law of war framework, they might have to defend their legal theory for the entire killing spree in court. And they know it does not hold water.