Admiral told lawmakers everyone on alleged drug boat was on a list of military targets

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sept. 2 ordered the U.S. military to kill all 11 people aboard a boat suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea because they were on an internal list of narcoterrorists who U.S. intelligence and military officials said could be lethally targeted, the commander overseeing the operation told lawmakers during news briefings last week, according to two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the briefings. of Congress.

Such a list includes individuals who may be targeted, including by lethal actions, if given the opportunity. The commander who oversaw the Sept. 2 strikes, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, told lawmakers that U.S. intelligence officials confirmed the identities of the 11 people aboard the boat and validated them as legitimate targets, then the military launched airstrikes as part of President Donald Trump’s military campaign against suspected drug-trafficking ships, U.S. officials and a person familiar with the congressional briefings said.

The detail that the 11 people on the boat were on an internal U.S. military target list has not previously been made public. It adds another dimension to the September 2 operation which was mired in controversy over the army’s decision to launch a second strike after the first left two survivors in the water.

Lawmakers raised questions about whether the second strike violated international law. The key question in the controversy surrounding the second strike is whether Hegseth ordered Bradley, who is the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, to kill everyone on the boat.

An administration official said Bradley made clear in his briefings with lawmakers that he acted in full compliance with the law throughout the operation. “As with all of these actions, a uniformed JAG provided advice and guidance every step of the way,” the official said in a written statement, adding that the boat was targeted because it was “transporting cocaine” and was “affiliated with a cartel designated by the president as a terrorist organization.”

“The cumulative impact of these narcoterrorist expeditions directly threatens Americans and U.S. national security interests,” the official said.

The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. U.S. Special Operations Command declined to comment.

The Pentagon said 22 strikes on suspected drug boats killed 86 people – 11 strikes took place in the Caribbean Sea and 11 in the Eastern Pacific. The administration has not produced any evidence to support its claims about the ships or the people on board.

On Thursday, Bradley spent more than eight hours at the Capitol briefing a dozen members of Congress and their staff about what happened during the operation. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine also attended the briefings.

This account of Bradley’s detailed timeline and explanation of the events of the September 2 operation, as told to lawmakers in private briefings, is based on interviews with the two U.S. officials and a person familiar with the congressional briefings.

Bradley told lawmakers that the orders he received from Hegseth were to kill individuals on the approved target list, which included everyone on the boat, then destroy the drugs and sink the boat, these sources said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday that “Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes.” She added that Bradley “worked well within his authority and the law governing engagement to ensure the destruction of the boat and the elimination of the threat to the United States of America.”

Bradley told lawmakers the second strike killed the two survivors, but did not sink the boat. So he ordered a third and fourth strike to complete the mission, the officials and a person familiar with the congressional briefings said.

Hegseth said he observed the operation on September 2 but “did not personally see any survivors.” At a White House Cabinet meeting last week, he defended the second strike, saying Bradley “did the right thing.”

“It’s called the fog of war,” Hegseth said.

At Bradley’s joint briefing Thursday with the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, he was pressed on whether Hegseth gave the order to kill everyone on board, according to one of the U.S. officials and the person familiar with the briefing. Bradley, referring to the approved list of targets, said Hegseth told him to kill everyone on board and destroy the ship, the official and person familiar with the briefing said.

At another briefing, Bradley was asked whether Hegseth had given him a “no-watch order,” which is an illegal military directive to kill all enemy combatants and show no mercy, even if they surrender or are seriously injured, said one of the U.S. officials and a second person familiar with the briefing. They said Bradley responded that he had not received such an order and would not have followed one if one had been given. The White House and Hegseth said no illegal orders were given.

Unlike a “no watch order,” the order to kill everyone on a target list is not prohibited by U.S. and international law.

All three sources said Bradley said the military hit the boat with a GBU-69, a precision-guided munition that was set to detonate in mid-air, meaning it exploded in the air rather than on impact. He said the explosion killed nine of the people on board, capsized the boat and damaged the rear of it, including the engine.

Another part of the boat broke off and caught fire, but much of the boat was not on fire. The damage made it unlikely that the boat would continue sailing, Bradley told lawmakers.

For more than 30 minutes, Bradley said he observed the two survivors among the rubble.

He told lawmakers there were bags of cocaine on the boat that were not ejected in the initial explosion. Because the bags of cocaine were not seen floating in the water, Bradley said he believed they were tied up and remained tied up during the explosion, making it likely the drugs were still under the capsized boat.

The cocaine was wrapped in waterproof plastic packets, which likely made them more buoyant and could have helped prevent the boat from sinking, he told lawmakers.

The two survivors moved to the side of the boat that was not on fire and were able to turn it over and eventually stand on it.

Bradley observed them taking off their shirts to check for injuries and told lawmakers they did not appear to have any visible injuries. He said army aerial surveillance zoomed in to ensure survivors were not injured or bleeding.

A U.S. military plane spotted the survivors waving their arms but could not say for sure whether they were making a signal to the plane, Bradley told lawmakers, according to the three sources.

He said he determined that although the boat had sustained enough damage that it may not have been able to sail, it could have continued to float or drift.

U.S. intelligence also spotted another larger boat in the area, determining that the damaged boat was supposed to join it in transferring the drugs to the larger vessel.

The larger boat was not on Bradley’s approved target list, so he did not have the authority to hit it. He explained that because the United States did not have positive identification of who was on board the larger boat, waiting to see if they would come and try to salvage the damaged boat and if there were two survivors was not a viable option.

Bradley explained, according to the three sources, that his decision to target the boat with the survivors was because the drugs had not been destroyed and the individuals on the boat had not surrendered and were not visibly injured but were still on the approved target list. And even though the survivors were unarmed, he said the mission identified drugs as a threat to the United States, effectively viewing cocaine as a weapon that could put Americans in danger.

Even so, Bradley acknowledged to lawmakers that U.S. intelligence had not concluded the drugs were headed to the United States. Instead, they showed the boat heading south toward another South American country, Suriname, which was first reported by CNN. Bradley told lawmakers the boat was ultimately destined for Europe or Africa.