The Pentagon has distanced Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth from a controversial double-tap strike on a suspected drug boat, blaming Admiral Frank M Bradley for ordering the engagement. The strike, which occurred on 2 September, killed survivors of an initial attack and has sparked allegations of war crimes.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said Bradley acted under “clear and long standing authorities” to destroy the vessel and eliminate the threat. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt explicitly named Bradley as the officer who “directed the engagement”, despite reports that Hegseth ordered the deaths of everyone on board. Leavitt dismissed critical reporting as “fake news”.
During a cabinet meeting, Hegseth defended Bradley, citing the “fog of war” and claiming he saw no survivors after the initial strike. “The vessel exploded in fire, smoke, you can’t see anything,” he said. The Pentagon has conducted 21 strikes against drug boats, killing 82 people described as “narco terrorists”.
President Donald Trump initially said he “wouldn’t have wanted that – not a second strike”, but later claimed Hegseth told him he did not order the deaths. The administration’s legal justification, outlined in a classified Justice Department opinion, treats the strikes as targeting cocaine rather than people, meaning those killed are considered enemy casualties or collateral damage.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy accused the administration of “selling out” Bradley, warning it sends “chills down the spines of his chain of command”. Bipartisan scrutiny has intensified, with the House and Senate armed services committees opening investigations into the strikes.
