As the fallout from a military strike on a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean Sea continues, Adm. Mitch Bradley is expected to tell congressional leaders the reported survivors killed in the attack were “legitimate targets.”
“Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley plans to say he and his legal adviser concluded the two survivors were attempting to continue their drug run, making them and the already-damaged vessel legitimate targets for another attack, two defense officials said,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Bradley is headed to Congress on Thursday to brief the Republican chairmen and ranking Democrats of the House and Senate Armed Services committees that two survivors from the controversial Sept. 2 military strike on a suspected drug-trafficking boat were legitimate targets and continuing their drug run, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Bradley, the commander of the United States Special Operations Command, will also separately meet with Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Mark Warner (D-VA), the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, respectively. He will explain what happened during the incident, the Associated Press reported.
The revelation comes as President Donald Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth have come under fire after a Washington Post article claimed two survivors from the initial strike on the vessel were subsequently killed by a second missile strike after allegedly clinging to the damaged boat. Critics have argued the second strike would have been a violation of the Pentagon’s Law of War Manual, which contends that combatants deemed “wounded, sick, or shipwrecked” shall be ”respected and protected in all circumstances.”
Congressional concerns over the reports of survivors being killed in the strike have been bipartisan, as Democrats and Republicans seek answers and accountability.
“This is an incredibly serious matter, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Wednesday. “This is about the safety of our troops. This is an incident that could expose members of our armed services to legal consequences. And yet the American public and the Congress are still not hearing basic facts.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) expressed doubt over the initial explanation from Hegseth regarding the incident and killing of survivors.
“Secretary Hegseth said he had no knowledge of this, and it did not happen,” Paul said on Tuesday. “It was fake news. It didn’t happen. And then the next day, from the podium at the White House, are saying it did happen. So, either he was lying to us … or he’s incompetent and didn’t know it had happened.”
Bradley’s testimony will provide much-needed information regarding the incident. And, as the Wall Street Journal reported, “The version of events Bradley is expected to deliver would rebut claims by legal experts that the killing of the two survivors could have constituted a war crime.”
HEGSETH DIDN’T ‘STICK AROUND’ TO SEE BRADLEY CARRY OUT SECOND BOAT STRIKE ON SURVIVORS
The inquiry will be held behind closed doors, according to reports. The Sept. 2 strike against suspected Venezuelan drug cartel boats was the first in what eventually became 21 military operations, in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, which have resulted in over 80 people being killed.
“The investigation is going to be done by the numbers,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We’ll find out the ground truth.”