Washington D.C. - A political firestorm is raging in Washington, with U.S. lawmakers demanding urgent answers from the Trump administration following a shocking report that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly ordered a follow-up military strike to execute survivors of an initial attack on a suspected Venezuelan drug boat.
Republican-led committees overseeing the Pentagon have immediately vowed "vigorous oversight" into the lethal U.S. boat strikes in the Caribbean, a campaign that has already claimed more than 80 lives since early September as part of an expanded anti-narcotics operation.
The controversy exploded on Friday after The Washington Post reported a highly explosive claim: that following a U.S. strike on a suspected smuggling vessel on September 2nd, which left two people alive, Secretary Hegseth issued a verbal directive to "kill everybody" on board. According to the report, a Special Operations commander in the field then "ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth's instructions."
Lawmakers: "This Rises to the Level of a War Crime"
The allegations have transcended partisan lines, triggering profound legal and moral concerns across Capitol Hill. Lawmakers from both parties, appearing on Sunday talk shows, underscored the gravity of the accusations.
Democrat Senator Tim Kaine was unsparing in his assessment on CBS Face the Nation, stating, "This rises to the level of a war crime if it's true."
Republican voices, while cautious about confirming the report, echoed the legal alarm bells. Former Intelligence Committee Chairman, Republican Mike Turner, affirmed his support for a congressional review.
"Obviously if that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that that would be an illegal act," Turner told CBS, highlighting that Congress had not yet received information confirming the follow-up strike.
The bipartisan alarm translated into immediate action. On Friday, the Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) announced it would begin an intensive inquiry.
"The Committee is aware of recent news reports – and the Department of Defense's initial response – regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility," SASC Republican Chair Senator Roger Wicker and his Democrat counterpart, Senator Jack Reed, said in a joint statement. "The Committee has directed inquiries to the Department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances."
The House Armed Services Committee followed suit, confirming it was "taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question."
Administration Defends the Campaign
The administration has fiercely rejected the claims. Defence Secretary Hegseth took to X to forcefully push back against the accusation, branding it "fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory." He maintained that the series of strikes on boats are "lawful under both US and international law," and went on to claim that "Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization."
President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, immediately offered his full backing to his Defence Secretary.
"He said he did not say that. And I believe him a 100%," Trump declared. The President did, however, promise to look into the matter, adding, "I wouldn't have wanted that - not a second strike."
The U.S. has defended its entire anti-narcotics campaign, which involves a massive military expansion in the international waters off Venezuela and Colombia, by claiming its actions are taken in "self-defence" to destroy boats carrying illicit drugs toward the United States.
Legal Limbo in International Waters
The controversy also throws a spotlight on the tenuous legal footing of the U.S. military operations in international waters.
The U.S. is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the foundational treaty governing maritime activity. However, the U.S. military's own legal advisors have often directed the armed forces to "act in a manner consistent with its provisions."
UNCLOS stipulates that countries should not interfere with vessels operating in international waters, with limited exceptions such as "hot pursuit." Furthermore, experts point to the doctrine of proportionate force.
"Force can be used to stop a boat but generally this should be non-lethal measures," noted Professor Luke Moffett of Queens University Belfast. The decision to use lethal force, particularly to target survivors, would therefore represent an extreme and potentially illegal escalation.
Venezuela, meanwhile, has seized the moment to condemn the U.S. strikes. The National Assembly vowed to carry out a "rigorous and thorough investigation" into the accusations of a second attack and reiterated its accusation that the U.S. is stoking regional tensions with the aim of toppling its government.
As Congress gears up for a major investigative push, the question of whether a lawful anti-narcotics mission crossed the line into outright extrajudicial execution threatens to severely challenge the credibility of the entire U.S. military operation in the Caribbean.
0 Comments