Hegseth Ordered a Lethal Attack but Not the Killing of Survivors, Officials Say
Amid talk of war crimes, the details and precise sequence of a Sept. 2 attack on a boat in the Caribbean are facing intensifying scrutiny.
According to five U.S. officials, who spoke separately and on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter that is under investigation, Mr. Hegseth, ahead of the Sept. 2 attack, ordered a strike that would kill the people on the boat and destroy the vessel and its purported cargo of drugs.
But, each official said, Mr. Hegseth’s directive did not specifically address what should happen if a first missile turned out not to fully accomplish all of those things. And, the officials said, his order was not a response to surveillance footage showing that at least two people on the boat survived the first blast.
Admiral Bradley ordered the initial missile strike and then several follow-up strikes that killed the initial survivors and sank the disabled boat. As that operation unfolded, they said, Mr. Hegseth did not give any further orders to him.
The officials clarified the sequence of events amid the political and legal uproar that has followed a report in The Washington Post last week. It said that Admiral Bradley ordered the second strike to fulfill a directive by Mr. Hegseth to kill everyone. The reaction has included questions about whether Mr. Hegseth specifically ordered an execution of shipwrecked sailors in violation of the laws of war.
New York Times
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on Monday (December 1) said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized an admiral to conduct the strikes that killed 11 people on a vessel from Venezuela allegedly carrying illegal narcotics.
White House says admiral ordered second strike on boat from Venezuela | Reuters
He would've implicitly ordered the second strike as he ordered the admiral "to kill everyone".
Highly unusual that there aren't rules of engagement such that you don't have the Secretary of War and an Admiral getting involved in each bombing or missile strike.
Hegseth Ordered Second Strike to Kill Caribbean Boat Survivors: Report
Hegseth Ordered Second Strike to Kill Caribbean Boat Survivors: Report | Military.com
Pretty unlikely that an order by the President and Secretary of War isn't involved when Seal team 6 is deployed as reported. |
