A top intel committee lawmaker warned Thursday that the video showing a second strike on an alleged drug boat off the coast of Venezuela appeared to confirm the U.S. committed a war crime.
The video from a Sept. 2 attack in the Caribbean Sea was shown to lawmakers during a briefing with Admiral Frank M. ‘Mitch’ Bradley and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper spoke with Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, who said the video was one of the worst things he has seen.
Tapper asked him if the video gave evidence that it was a war crime.
“I want to be careful with my language here. You know, we didn’t get the audio. But that’s sure what it looked like to me,” Himes said. “And again, I don’t want to get into the details, but I want you to imagine two individuals, clinging to wreckage in the middle of a vast ocean without any tools, without any weapons. Look, if this guy had had an AK-47 or an RPG or was, you know, calling in air strikes or anything else, it would be a totally different thing.”
The video has been in question since reports surfaced that survivors were targeted after the first strike. The Trump administration has faced calls for answers after it was reported by The Washington Post that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the killing of two survivors of one of the controversial drug vessel bombings.
“Any American who sees the video that I saw will see the United States military attacking shipwrecked sailors — bad guys, bad guys, but attacking shipwrecked sailors,” Himes told reporters Thursday following the briefing.
“Yes, they were carrying drugs. They were not in the position to continue their mission in any way,” he said.
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