Admiral says there was no ‘kill them all’ order in boat attack, but video alarms lawmakers

WASHINGTON AP A Navy admiral commanding the U S military strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean narrated lawmakers Thursday that there was no kill them all order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth but a stark video of the attack left grave questions as Congress scrutinizes the campaign that killed two survivors Adm Frank Mitch Bradley appeared for a series of closed-door classified briefings at the Capitol as lawmakers conduct an study after a overview that he ordered the follow-on attack that killed the survivors to comply with Hegesth s demands Legal experts have explained such a strike could be a violation of the laws of military warfare Bradley was very clear that he was given no such order to give no quarter or to kill them all disclosed Sen Tom Cotton who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee as he exited a classified briefing While Cotton R-Ark defended the attack Democrats who were also briefed and saw video of the survivors being killed questioned the Trump administration s rationale and noted the affair was deeply concerning The order was basically Destroy the drugs kill the people on the boat declared Washington Rep Adam Smith the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee Smith who is demanding further inspection revealed the survivors were basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat drifting in the water until the missiles come and kill them The classified sessions with Bradley alongside the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Dan Caine provided fresh information at a crucial moment as Hegseth s leadership comes under scrutiny But they did little to resolve growing questions about the legal basis for President Donald Trump s extraordinary campaign to use war powers against suspected drug facilitators So far more than people have been killed in several strikes Late Thursday U S Southern Command informed it had conducted another strike against a small boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean following a pause of almost three weeks There were four casualties according to the social media post Lawmakers have not yet specifically authorized the use of military force against the alleged drug boats and the Republican-controlled Congress has turned back attempts to put a check on Trump s power to engage in the missile campaign which Hegseth has vowed will continue Several Democrats have called for Hegseth to resign Congressional scrutiny gets underway Lawmakers want a full accounting of the Sept strike which was the first in what has become a monthslong series of U S military attacks on vessels near Venezuela supposed to be ferrying drugs The Washington Post had stated that Bradley ordered the follow-on attack on the survivors But lawmakers who lead the House and Senate s national measure committees in Congress came away with different descriptions of what the two survivors were doing when they were killed Cotton disclosed he saw them trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound for United States back over so they could stay in the fight He reported there were several minutes between the first and second attacks which consisted of four missile strikes He reported it was gratifying that the U S military was taking the battle to cartels But Connecticut Rep Jim Himes the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee revealed what I saw in that room was one of the the bulk troubling things I ve seen in my time in constituents utility You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion with a destroyed vessel he disclosed and who were killed by the United States The survivors did not issue any distress call or other communications though lawmakers were recounted it appeared the people had a hand raised waving at one point during the attacks Smith commented Smith acknowledged there was likely cocaine on the boat but he objects to the Republican administration s rationale for continued attacks on alleged drug runners who may or may not be heading to the United States That s really the core of the difficulty with all of this he noted That incredibly broad definition I think is what sets in motion all of these problems about using lethal force and using the military Who is Adm Bradley At the time of the attack Bradley was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command overseeing coordinated operations between the military s elite special operations units out of Fort Bragg in North Carolina About a month after the strike he was promoted to commander of U S Special Operations Command His military career spanning more than three decades was mostly spent serving in the elite Navy SEALs and commanding joint operations He was among the first special forces officers to deploy to Afghanistan after the Sept attacks His latest promotion to admiral was approved by unanimous voice vote in the Senate this year and Democratic and Republican senators praised his record Sen Thom Tillis R-N C has described Bradley as among those who are rock solid and the most of extraordinary people that have ever served in the military But lawmakers like Tillis have also made it clear they expect a reckoning if it is identified that survivors were targeted Anybody in the chain of command that was responsible for it that had vision of it requirements to be held accountable he stated What else are lawmakers seeking Underpinning Trump s campaign against suspected traffickers is his argument that drug cartels amount to armed combatants because their cargo poses a threat to American lives Democrats are demanding the release of the full video of the Sept attack as well as written records of the orders and any directives about the mission from Hegseth None of the written orders or audio of verbal commands was shared with the lawmakers A White House Office of Legal Counsel memo providing a rationale for the strikes was dated after the fact on Sept That memo remains undisclosed and Democrats want it issued Obtaining further information though will largely depend on action from Republican lawmakers who have majority control of the committees a potentially painful prospect for them if it puts them at odds with the president Rhode Island Sen Jack Reed the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee commented that he and the Senate Armed Services Committee chair GOP Sen Roger Wicker have formally requested the executive orders authorizing the operations and the complete videos from the strikes among other items The Trump administration has repeatedly denied their requests for basic information about the operation Reed reported Republican lawmakers who are close to Trump have largely stood by Hegseth and the administration s decision to conduct the strikes Elsewhere Venezuelan President Nicol s Maduro and others see the U S military operation as part of an effort to prompt a leadership change in the South American country Maduro on Wednesday acknowledged speaking last month by phone with Trump who approved the call days earlier