Overview
- U.S. Southern Command said a Dec. 4 strike in the eastern Pacific, carried out at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s direction, destroyed a suspected drug vessel and killed four people.
- The latest action extends a maritime campaign that has destroyed more than 20 boats and killed at least 87 people since early September, according to official tallies and military statements.
- After viewing classified video of the Sept. 2 operation, lawmakers said U.S. forces fired on survivors clinging to wreckage; Adm. Frank Bradley told them he did not receive a “kill them all” order from Hegseth.
- Legal experts and several lawmakers warn that follow-up strikes on shipwrecked or incapacitated people could violate the laws of war, prompting demands for the written execute order, rules of engagement, unedited video and the classified OLC opinion.
- Hegseth denied issuing an order to kill everyone and publicly backed Bradley’s decision, while reports citing Bradley’s briefings say the Sept. 2 boat planned to rendezvous with a vessel bound for Suriname.