US Navy Admiral Frank Bradley has denied issuing a 'kill them all' order during a controversial double airstrike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean, according to lawmakers who attended a closed briefing on Thursday. The attack, which killed 11 people in September, has sparked bipartisan concern over potential war crimes.
Democratic Representative Jim Himes described the footage shown to Congress as 'one of the most troubling scenes' he had witnessed in public service. He said the video showed two survivors in distress on a destroyed vessel being killed by US forces, adding: 'Any American who sees the video that I saw will see the United States military attacking shipwrecked sailors.'
However, Republican Senator Tom Cotton defended the strikes as 'righteous' and claimed the survivors were attempting to flip their boat to continue their mission. He said Admiral Bradley was 'very clear' that no order to kill all survivors had been given, and that the written order was detailed as standard military procedure.
The briefing followed a Washington Post report alleging that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had verbally ordered the killing of survivors. Hegseth has not commented publicly. President Donald Trump posted video of the initial strike but has not released footage of the second attack, which killed the two remaining crew members.
Lawmakers remain divided on whether the full video should be released. Himes called for transparency, while Cotton deferred to the Pentagon. Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the briefing 'confirmed my worst fears' and vowed to continue investigating the operation, which Trump has defended as targeting drug traffickers from Venezuela.
