{"id":260582,"date":"2025-12-07T11:35:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T15:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=260582"},"modified":"2025-12-07T15:10:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T19:10:59","slug":"us-defense-secretary-defends-action-in-the-caribbean-amid-mounting-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/us-defense-secretary-defends-action-in-the-caribbean-amid-mounting-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"US Defense Secretary defends action in the Caribbean amid mounting questions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CNN<\/strong>– Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday defended the Trump administration\u2019s military actions against alleged drug boats<\/a> in the Caribbean, saying they show \u201cthe strength of American resolve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now the world is seeing the strength of American resolve in stemming the flow of lethal drugs to our country,\u201d Hegseth said at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.<\/p>

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\u201cHere, again, we\u2019ve been focused and here we\u2019ve been clear: If you\u2019re working for a designated terrorist organization and you bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you.\u201d<\/p>

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Hegseth\u2019s remarks come as the administration faces mounting scrutiny over its counter-drug offensive, including for ordering a follow-up strike<\/a> that killed survivors on an alleged drug boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is considered a war crime to kill shipwrecked people, which the Pentagon\u2019s law of war manual defines as people \u201cin need of assistance and care\u201d who \u201cmust refrain from any hostile act.\u201d<\/p>

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The September follow-up strike has drawn bipartisan scrutiny \u2014 including a vow from the Senate Armed Services Committee to conduct oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth, his team at the Pentagon and the White House have pointed to Adm. Frank \u201cMitch\u201d Bradley, commander of US Special Operations Command, as the official who made the decision for a follow-up strike that killed survivors. <\/p>

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Hegseth on Saturday defended Bradley\u2019s decision.<\/p>

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\u201cFrom what I understood then and what I understand now, I fully support that strike,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would have made the same call myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incident was at the center of briefings Bradley gave to Congress this week, during which lawmakers were told that Hegseth made clear before the mission that the strikes should be lethal,\u00a0CNN reported<\/a>, but that he was not made aware of the survivors until after they were killed, one of the sources with direct knowledge said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth on Saturday denied giving a directive that everyone on board should be killed, calling the accusation \u201cpatently ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, you don\u2019t walk in and say, \u2018Kill them.\u2019 It\u2019s just patently ridiculous. It\u2019s meant to create a cartoon of me and the decisions that we make and how we make them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said at the annual defense forum Saturday that it was his and Bradley\u2019s idea to share information with Congress \u201cso that we could continue to sustain and scale that trust that we must earn every day from the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN exclusively reported this week that the two men killed in the secondary strike\u00a0did not appear to have radio<\/a>\u00a0or other communications devices, according to sources with direct knowledge of Bradley\u2019s congressional briefings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense officials had been quietly arguing the survivors were legitimate targets because they appeared to be radioing for help or backup \u2014 reinforcements that could have theoretically allowed them to continue to traffic the drugs aboard their ship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the congressional briefings, senior lawmakers saw a video of the military action, which left them\u00a0divided along party lines<\/a>, with a top Democrat calling it \u201cone of the most troubling things\u201d he has seen as a lawmaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked Saturday whether he plans to release the full video, Hegseth said, \u201cWe\u2019re viewing the process, and we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defense secretary\u2019s noncommittal answer differs from comments from President Donald Trump, who told reporters earlier this week his administration would\u00a0\u201ccertainly\u201d release video<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The broader counter-drug campaign has killed at least 87 people in strikes that have destroyed 23 boats. While the Trump administration has defended its actions by arguing the attacks are aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking, critics and legal experts have claimed the effort is likely unlawful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This story has been updated with additional information.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN\u2019s Natasha Bertrand, Haley Britzky and Katie Bo Lillis contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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CLICK HERE TO JOIN OUR WHAT\u2019S APP GROUP CNN– Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday defended the Trump administration\u2019s military actions against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, saying they show \u201cthe strength of American resolve.\u201d \u201cRight now the world is seeing the strength of American resolve in stemming the flow of lethal drugs to our country,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":259903,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-260582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUS Defense Secretary defends action in the Caribbean amid mounting questions - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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