The Kabul Tribune (KT) — NBC News reported Sunday that U.S. Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth ordered the military on September 2 to kill all 11 people on a
suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea because they were on an
internal list of narco-terrorists.
Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who oversaw the operation,
told lawmakers during private briefings that U.S. intelligence had confirmed
the identities of everyone on the boat and validated them as legitimate
targets, according to U.S. officials and a person familiar with the briefings.
Airstrikes were then launched as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign
against alleged drug-smuggling vessels.
Details that all 11 people were on a U.S. military target
list had not previously been made public. The operation drew controversy after
a second strike killed two survivors left in the water by the first strike.
Lawmakers questioned whether the second strike violated international law.
An administration official said Bradley acted in full
compliance with the law, with advice from a uniformed JAG officer throughout
the operation. The boat was targeted because it was allegedly carrying cocaine
and was linked to a cartel designated by the president as a terrorist
organization.
The Pentagon did not comment on the report, and U.S. Special
Operations Command declined to respond. The Pentagon has said that 22 strikes
on alleged drug boats have killed 86 people — 11 in the Caribbean Sea and 11 in
the eastern Pacific. The administration has produced no evidence supporting its
allegations regarding the vessels or the people on board.
Bradley spent more than eight hours briefing Congress on
September 2, with Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also
attending. According to officials familiar with the briefings, Bradley said
Hegseth told him to kill everyone on the approved target list, destroy the
drugs, and sink the vessel. Multiple strikes were conducted to complete the
mission.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday
that “Secretary Hegseth authorized Adm. Bradley to conduct these kinetic
strikes” and added that Bradley “worked well within his authority and the law
directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the
United States of America was eliminated.”
