Top Military Commander Plans Bold Defense of Second Boat Attack

Two individuals who survived the Pentagons September 2 airstrike on a Caribbean vessel reportedly continued their drug operation, according to Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley, who is scheduled to address Congress on Thursday. Bradley intends to explain how he and his advisers concluded that the survivors remained on the damaged boat with narcotics shipments, which allegedly justified a follow-up strike, defense officials told The Wall Street Journal.

The admiral will meet lawmakers behind closed doors amid mounting pressure in Washington to hold someone accountable for the lethal action. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has faced intense criticism over the double strike in September. In a bid to shield Hegseth from further scrutiny, the White House has shifted responsibility toward Bradley, who led the Joint Special Operations Command during the attack.

Since early September, U.S. forces have destroyed at least 20 small vessels in the Caribbean suspected of drug smuggling by Trump administration officials, often without investigations or interceptions. These operations have resulted in at least 83 fatalities. The September 2 strike was the first, and uniquely, the only known case where survivors were deliberately targeted in a second strike.

If Bradleys account is verified, the controversial action could be justified. Geoffrey Corn, a former military lawyer and current director of the Center for Military Law and Policy at Texas Tech, told The Journal that if the survivors posed a genuine threat after the initial strike, the Defense Department could provide a legitimate rationale for the follow-up attack.

The strikes have drawn bipartisan condemnation in Congress and criticism from international human rights advocates, including the U.N. human rights chief, who stated in October that the attacks violate international human rights law. The incident has also prompted some congressional Republicans to question whether Hegseth should remain in his position, though former President Donald Trump continues to support him, dismissing criticism as part of wartime decisions.

Author: Ava Mitchell