The Navy admiral who oversaw lethal strikes on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in September told lawmakers that the vessel wasn’t headed to the U.S., countering President Donald Trump’s claims.
Frank Bradley said in a Thursday briefing that the boat was heading to transfer drugs to a larger boat, which was bound for Suriname, CNN reported Friday, citing two sources with direct knowledge of his comments. According to the report, Bradley said the drugs could have ultimately ended up heading toward the U.S. from Suriname, which warranted striking the boat, he said.
Yet drug trafficking routes that go through Suriname are mainly for European markets, according to U.S. drug enforcement officials.
In a Truth Social post shortly after the strike, Trump, 79, wrote: “The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States.”
All 11 passengers were killed, including two survivors of the initial strike who were clinging to the wreckage for more than 40 minutes, The Atlantic reported. Sources told CNN that Bradley told lawmakers that the two individuals were waving at the air after the first strike, meaning they could have been surrendering.
Killing shipwrecked individuals who are surrendering is widely considered a war crime.
“The video we saw today showed two shipwrecked individuals who had no means to move, much less pose an immediate threat, and yet they were killed by the United States military,” Democratic Reps. Jim Himes and Adam Smith said in a statement Thursday after Bradley’s briefing.
“Regardless of what one believes about the legal underpinnings of these operations, and we have been clear we believe they are highly questionable, this was wrong.”
Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, however, called them “righteous strikes.”
“These are narcoterrorists who are trafficking drugs that are destined for the United States to kill thousands of Arkansans and millions of Americans,” Cotton claimed. “I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound for the United States back over, so they could stay in the fight.”
The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
The post Pentagon Pete’s Claim Drug Boat Was Headed to U.S. Blows Up appeared first on The Daily Beast.
