US defence chief says he did not see survivors before follow-up boat strike

Prior to the second deadly strike, which sparked calls for an investigation into possible war crimes, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has denied seeing any survivors from a military strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea in September.

Hegseth claimed at a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday that he had witnessed the contentious follow-up strike but had not witnessed the initial strike.

At the meeting presided over by President Donald Trump, Hegseth stated, “We have a lot of things to do at the Department of War, so I didn’t stick around.” Despite the president’s claim that he is a peacemaker and has broken numerous ceasefire agreements, the Trump administration refers to the department as the “Department of War.”

Hegseth claimed that Admiral Frank Bradley, who was the mission commander for the September 2 attacks and heads special operations in the US military, had made the “right call” to launch the second strike and “destroy the threat.”

Hegseth continued, noting that the strike’s location had been obscured by fire and smoke. “I did not personally see survivors,” he said.

The fog of war refers to this.

Hegseth claimed that Bradley was fully supported by the Trump administration and that it had given commanders the authority to carry out “difficult things on behalf of the American people in the dead of night.”

Hegseth’s remarks came as Democrats and legal experts demanded more transparency regarding the double-tap strike, which Democrats and legal experts have deemed to be a likely war crime.

According to US Senator Chris Van Hollen, who spoke on X about Hegseth’s previous work as a host on Fox News, “Secretary Talk Show host may have been experiencing the “folk of war” [#]].

“Peter Hegseth is unfit to serve, and one thing is for certain.” He must leave now.

Since The Washington Post reported last week that military commanders had launched a second strike on two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage of the ship in accordance with his command to ensure that no one was left alive, Hegseth’s reputation has grown.

Hegseth criticized The Washington Post report as “fake news,” “fabricated,” and “inflammatory,” citing two unnamed people with whom the matter had been a source of conversation.

The Pentagon’s own book on the “laws of war” declares that firing orders against survivors of shipwrecked vessels “clearly illegal.”

In a contentious military operation to combat alleged drug traffickers, the Trump administration has launched strikes on at least 22 vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific.

The strikes, which are considered extrajudicial killings and are against international law, have claimed the lives of at least 83 people.