Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday he did not "stick around" to watch a controversial second U.S. strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean, even as lawmakers and legal experts intensify scrutiny of the deadly operation.
Hegseth Defends Admiral Behind Second Boat Strike
According to a report by The Hill, Hegseth told reporters at a White House Cabinet meeting that he only monitored the initial Sept. 2 strike in real time. "I watched that first strike live. As you can imagine, at the Department of War, we got a lot of things to do, so I didn't stick around for the hour and two hours, whatever, where all the sensitive site exploitation digitally occurs," he said.
Hegseth said, he learned that Adm. Frank Bradley had ordered a follow-on strike on the wrecked vessel, a “couple” hours later.
Hegseth said he never saw survivors on the feed because the boat was engulfed in flames. "It was exploded in fire or smoke. You can't see anything," he said, calling it "the fog of war." He vigorously defended Bradley, the U.S. Special Operations Command chief who approved the second strike, saying he “made the correct decision” to sink the boat and eliminate the threat.
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Legal Experts Question Second Strike On Survivors
The Washington Post, citing unnamed officials, earlier reported that Hegseth gave a verbal order to "kill everybody" on board, a claim he denies. Legal and military experts, pointing to Pentagon guidance, told the Associated Press that attacking shipwrecked survivors can violate both peacetime and wartime law.
U.S. officials say the Sept. 2 strike killed 11 suspected "narco-terrorists" linked to Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang and was part of a broader counter-drug campaign. Since early September, U.S. forces have carried out at least 20 strikes on alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing more than 75 people, according to Justice Department disclosures.
White House, Congress Clash Over Boat Campaign
The White House has defended the operation as lawful self-defense, even as President Donald Trump has said he "wouldn't have wanted" a follow-up strike and is "looking into" what happened.
Bipartisan lawmakers have demanded answers, with some Democrats calling the second strike a potential war crime and urging Hegseth to testify publicly. Congress has launched multiple oversight efforts into the boat campaign and the Justice Department has drafted a legal opinion aimed at shielding U.S. personnel from prosecution over the strikes.
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