The admiral responsible for the Sept. 2 double-tap attack on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean Sea told lawmakers that everyone on board was on an approved list of military targets, according to a new report.
During a closed-door briefing with a dozen lawmakers on Thursday, Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley said all 11 people on the ship were on a list of narco-terrorists that military and intelligence officials had determined could be targeted with lethal measures. NBC News reports. Bradley said intelligence officials confirmed their identities and recognized them as targets, the newspaper reported. The newspaper cited two U.S. officials and one person familiar with the talks.
Bradley also said that U.S. intelligence has not determined that the drugs on the ship were headed to the U.S., but that the ship was headed to Suriname in South America, according to NBC News.
This is consistent with another report from CNNdetailing how Bradley told lawmakers that the ship planned to join a larger boat headed to Suriname. Bradley argued that there was still a possibility that the drugs from the ship could have reached the US, according to CNN.
The independent has contacted the Pentagon for comment. The Pentagon did not respond to requests for comment from NBC News and CNN.
These reports come as questions about the subsequent September attack mount The Washington Post reported that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered Bradley to “kill everyone” on the ship.
When two survivors were spotted after the first attack, Bradley ordered a second attack to comply with that earlier order After reported. The Pentagon called the After‘s story was “completely untrue” at the time.
Some lawmakers and ex-military officials have expressed concern that the strikes could violate international law. Meanwhile, the White House has maintained that the attacks were carried out legally and that Hegseth gave Bradley permission to carry out the attacks.
Hegseth said Tuesday that he “didn’t stick around” after the first attack and that he “personally saw no survivors.” The defense secretary has expressed his support for Bradley last week and on Saturday said that he himself “would have made the same call”.
During the closed-door briefing on Thursday, Bradley told lawmakers that the Defense Secretary had ordered him to kill the people on the approved military list, destroy the drugs on the boat and sink the ship, NBC News reports.
The admiral told lawmakers that he attacked the boat after the survivors were spotted because the drugs had not been destroyed, the survivors had not surrendered, they were not visibly injured and they were on the approved list of targets, according to NBC News.
Bradley reportedly said that the second attack killed the two survivors, but did not sink the boat, so he ordered two more attacks.
In another briefing, Bradley was also asked if Hegseth had given him a “no quarter order,” which is an illegal order to kill enemies even if they surrendered or were seriously injured, NBC News reports. Bradley said he was not given that order and would not have followed it if he had, the outlet reported.
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