Overview
- U.S. Southern Command said a Dec. 4 strike directed by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth destroyed a suspected drug‑running vessel in international waters in the eastern Pacific, killing four in the 22nd strike since September and bringing the death toll to at least 87.
- Lawmakers shown classified footage of the Sept. 2 operation said a second strike killed two men clinging to wreckage, with the mission using four missiles in total and no radios seen on the survivors, according to briefed officials.
- Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley told Congress he received no order from Hegseth to “kill them all,” even as the White House and Pentagon point to Bradley for the decision to hit survivors and SOUTHCOM attributes new strikes to Hegseth’s direction.
- Legal scholars and former military lawyers say the administration has not provided a persuasive legal basis for treating cartel groups as combatants, noting a classified OLC opinion signed Sept. 5 and gaps in access for JAGs until mid‑November.
- House and Senate committees are seeking the OLC memo, unedited video, and written execute orders as bipartisan oversight of Operation Southern Spear continues following the latest strike.