The Pentagon was aware that people were still alive after a September strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean Sea, yet U.S. forces carried out a second attack anyway, according to two individuals familiar with the operation who spoke to the Associated Press.
The sources, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the mission, said officials defended the follow-up strike as necessary to fully sink the damaged boat. The Trump administration has publicly maintained that all 11 people on board were killed.
Why It Matters
Key questions remain about who approved the strikes and whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had any involvement, one of the individuals told AP. Those unresolved issues are taking on new urgency as lawmakers investigate the U.S. military’s expanding counterdrug operations and assess whether the mission complied with U.S. and international law.
The matter is expected to be a central focus on Thursday, when Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley — identified by the administration as the commander who ordered the second strike — briefs senior members of Congress in a closed-door session.
What To Know
Hegseth is under growing bipartisan pressure over the military’s lethal actions against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, including the Sept. 2 follow-on strike that reportedly targeted survivors of the initial attack. Legal scholars and multiple lawmakers have warned that such a move could violate the laws of armed conflict and peacetime standards governing the use of force. The Pentagon has not publicly addressed those legal concerns.
Hegseth has defended the mission, saying during a recent White House Cabinet meeting that events unfolded in the “fog of war.” He said he did not see survivors in the water when the second strike was launched and admitted he “didn’t stick around” for the remainder of the operation. He has repeatedly argued that Bradley “made the right call” and possessed “complete authority” to proceed.
The administration maintains that the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, even though Congress has never specifically authorized the use of military force in that region. At the same time, a separate September operation has prompted a formal complaint to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The family of Alejandro Carranza, a Colombian fisherman killed on Sept. 15, alleges he was the victim of an extrajudicial killing after the U.S. military bombed his boat.
The Sept. 2 follow-on strike targeted the first vessel hit in what officials have described as a broader counterdrug offensive, which has now involved more than 20 airstrikes and resulted in over 80 deaths. However, details of the second strike were not included in the classified briefing provided to lawmakers in September, one of the individuals said. That information surfaced only later, frustrating senior members of the House and Senate armed services committees.
In response, both committees took the unusual step of quickly launching bipartisan investigations, citing unresolved questions about legality, transparency and oversight.
A bipartisan group of senators also introduced a War Powers Resolution on Wednesday, seeking to halt what they describe as unauthorized U.S. military “hostilities” in Venezuela under President Donald Trump.
What People Are Saying
When asked on Wednesday whether he would release video footage of the follow-up strike, as Democratic lawmakers have demanded, Trump replied: “I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have we’d certainly release. No problem.”
Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky wrote Wednesday on X, “Branding individuals as ‘narco-terrorist’ without proof just to open the door to lethal force is not a legitimate policy—it’s a dangerous fantasy. It bypasses due process, shreds constitutional limits, and pushes America toward another unnecessary foreign war. Our national security decisions must be grounded in facts and governed by law, not political theatrics. Anything less endangers our values and our troops.”
Bradley is scheduled to appear Thursday for a classified briefing with the Republican chairmen and Democratic ranking members of the House and Senate armed services committees.
