Pete Hegseth denies that he gave orders to kill everyone on boat
Hegseth lambasted reports about his role in the strike as “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland”.
The remarks came after a Washington Post report this week alleged that Hegseth ordered defense officials to “kill everybody” traveling on a boat that was being surveilled by analysts on 2 September, the first strike of many carried out in recent months by the Trump administration. The White House said – without proof – that the people in the boats in the Caribbean, killed in Pentagon operations, were drug smugglers.
Following the Washington Post’s reporting, two senators – Republican Roger Wicker and Democrat Jack Reed – released a statement saying the Senate armed services committee would be investigating the boat strikes.
“The Committee is aware of recent news reports – and the Department of Defense’s initial response – regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” the senators wrote in a joint statement.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/29/pete-hegseth-denies-ordering-deaths-narco-boat
= new reply since forum marked as read
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The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack — the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s war on suspected drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere — ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water.
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The commander overseeing the operation from Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Adm. Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, told people on the secure conference call that the survivors were still legitimate targets because they could theoretically call other traffickers to retrieve them and their cargo, according to two people. He ordered the second strike to fulfill Hegseth’s directive that everyone must be killed.
https://archive.ph/Dnq8a#selection-441.0-441.255
when their boat had just been blown apart and they're clinging to debris?
I think their radios would've been on the bottom of the ocean floor, along with their boat and the other occupants.
This was clearly a war crime and those involved, the SecDef, the SO Commander and those that actually pulled the trigger should be arrested and face a General Court Martial.
