The controversy surrounding a possible war crime committed by the Pentagon in the first US military attack against an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean last September shows no signs of abating. This Thursday Admiral Frank Bradley appeared before Congress, which, according to the administration of Donald Trump, after the first strike that sank the ship, gave the order to launch a second round that killed the survivors. One lawmaker present at the closed-door meeting called the video of those moments “one of the most disturbing things” he had ever seen.
Bradley, according to lawmakers, denied receiving any instructions, written or verbal, requiring him to “kill them all” or “leave no one alive.” Thus, he denied information that claimed that Defense Minister Pete Hegseth ordered the second attack without leaving any survivors.
But the details of what was said in that briefing were bitter and monotonous. The conclusions differ depending on the party to which the legislator who says them belongs. Democrats declare they are terrified. Republicans who spoke point out that the attack was “lawful and deadly”: US military commanders acted “exactly as they would be expected to,” Republican Senator Tom Cotton declared. Congressman Rick Crawford, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said that “without a doubt” the attack was carried out “in a very professional manner.”
On the other hand, the senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Jim Himes, stated that the video that was shown during the session – without accompanying sound – represents a problem. “You have two people (survivors) who clearly need help, without any means of transportation, with a destroyed boat, killed by the United States,” the lawmaker emphasizes.
He and his colleagues declared to the court that they were as concerned as ever about the campaign against drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which has so far led to the sinking of at least 21 boats and the deaths of 83 people, in an operation the Pentagon has dubbed “Southern Spear” and which experts and lawmakers regard as having more than just questionable legality. Washington insists that the military deployment it maintains in the Caribbean is aimed at combating drugs, although Venezuela’s government and others see the real mission as trying to force regime change.
The session was called at the request of lawmakers after the newspaper The Washington Post It was supposed to be published last Friday that after the first strike on the boat on September 2, there was a second strike that was not reported by the Pentagon, which killed two survivors. The media indicated that the strike was in implementation of an alleged verbal order from Hegseth calling for “killing them all.” The Pentagon chief categorically denies issuing this order. The laws of war prohibit killing survivors of an attack at sea.
The session coincided with the publication of an official report, on Thursday, accusing Hegseth of violating Pentagon security protocols and thus endangering the forces when he sent messages to a group on the social media network containing confidential information about bombings in Yemen, in a scandal called Signal gate.
The document finds that by using a commercial social network for his communications and sharing information about an ongoing military operation, the Secretary of Defense risked revealing U.S. military tactics and exposing U.S. soldiers. But she does not accuse him of revealing confidential information, stressing that the former Fox TV presenter has the authority in his position to declassify any information he wants before sending it. The document does not comment on whether Hegseth’s declassification policy is appropriate.
The investigation began after last March with the journalist and director of the Progressive magazine AtlanticJeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly included in a group on the encrypted Signal platform, where senior Trump administration officials exchanged information and comments about an operation to bomb Yemen. The journalist, who initially thought it was just a joke, revealed the group’s existence when he confirmed its authenticity and that the messages were indeed describing a real operation to bomb Houthi militia facilities in Yemen.
Throughout the thread in the so-called “small group of senior officials on the Houthis,” the Pentagon chief and other senior officials — figures like Vice President J.D. Vance, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — shared various details about the operation. Two hours before the bombing, on 15 March, Hegseth sent a program with planned flight and attack times.
The revelations cost Mike Waltz the position of then National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, who had mistakenly included Goldberg in the group. As a result of this ruling, Waltz was proposed as ambassador to the United Nations, a position that was confirmed in the summer, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since assumed his duties as coordinator of US foreign policy.
In the face of the scandal, lawmakers from both parties called on the Pentagon’s Inspector General, who is responsible for ensuring that this ministry adheres to its internal rules, to study the issue. In April, the Inspector General announced the opening of an investigation. That same month, it emerged that Hegseth had shared sensitive information in a second conversation, involving his wife and brother.