Report Raises Questions About Lethal Orders
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is pushing back after a Washington Post report alleged he ordered the U.S. military to kill all passengers aboard a drug-suspected boat struck in the Caribbean on Sept. 2. According to the report, two survivors initially clung to the wreckage before a second strike was ordered to prevent them from calling for help.
Hegseth: Strikes Were Lawful and Intended to Be Lethal
In a post on X, Hegseth said the operations were meant to be “lethal, kinetic strikes” and insisted they were lawful under U.S. and international law. He added that all actions were reviewed and approved “up and down the chain of command.”
Conflicting Accounts and Unanswered Questions
A person familiar with the incident confirmed to ABC News that survivors from the first strike were killed in later strikes. ABC News has not verified the exact orders given by Hegseth or Adm. Mitch Bradley, the reported officer who ordered the follow-up attack.
Questions remain about why survivors weren’t recovered, especially since the military rescued survivors in a later, similar operation and repatriated them to Ecuador and Colombia.
Legal and Ethical Scrutiny Intensifies
Critics and legal experts argue the strikes may violate the Geneva Conventions, which require wounded combatants to be collected and cared for. Senators Roger Wicker and Jack Reed have called for “vigorous oversight” to determine what happened and whether any orders broke the law.
A Broad Campaign Against Suspected Drug Boats
The strikes are part of a wider U.S. campaign targeting vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. More than 20 strikes have reportedly killed over 80 people. The Trump administration maintains the operations are justified because drug cartels have been designated as “foreign terrorist organizations.”
Many legal experts call this rationale unprecedented, saying the U.S. should rely on law enforcement—not military force—to seize narcotics and arrest suspects.
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