Chilling new details of ‘war crime’ drug boat strike

Adm. Frank Bradley’s three-decade career came down to one defining moment that took minutes to decide.

After the US military attacked an alleged narco-terrorist boat near Trinidad, Bradley had to determine whether or not to kill two survivors an initial strike.

That directive was given the green light, leaving Pentagon higher-ups reeling in the aftermath.

The first strike with a laser-guided bomb killed nine of the 11 people on board the boat and destroyed the motor, sources told The Washington Post.

When the smoke dissipated, footage of the shipwreck coming from a US aircraft in the sky clearly showed two survivors.

The lone survivors were two men who were waving their hands and attempting to flip the capsized vessel.

The video feed pictured the men struggling to stand on the floating debris of the ship roughly the size of a dining room table.

Bradley reportedly asked a military lawyer for an opinion on the follow-up strike, people briefed on the conversations say. The issue centered around the law of armed conflict and whether these men were ‘shipwrecked’ and ultimately unlawful targets.

In the end, Bradley went ahead and pulled the trigger, deciding that the men did not fall into the ‘shipwrecked’ category, claiming that he was certain that there were drugs under the wreckage.

This order put Bradley, Hegseth, and everyone involved in the mission under intense scrutiny, as questions of the legality of these actions swirled.

Navy Adm. Frank Bradley leaves the US Capitol Building. Members of the Senate and House Armed Services and Intelligence committees met with Bradley in closed door classified meetings

Khardori explains that he believes Trump’s boat strikes seem to be ‘less defensible’ and ‘even more worthy of serious public scrutiny’

Reports say the first strike had a laser-guided bomb that killed nine of the 11 people onboard the boat, sinking the motor

Hegseth has said he only watched video of the initial strike before leaving the operations center to brief senior White House officials on the mission, and he has publicly defended Bradley as one of the Navy’s finest admirals.

Donald Trump has backed Hegseth, stating last week that ‘Pete did an amazing job’.

Trump told reporters that the Secretary of War ‘said he did not order the death of those two men.’

‘The first strike was very lethal; it was fine,’ Trump said.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns over the strike.

Democratic Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Kelly have both said that if the reports are accurate that the action would constitute a ‘war crime’.

Bradley was seen testifying before Congress behind closed doors last week as lawmakers were shown extended footage of the September 2 airstrike.

House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Jim Himes, a Democrat, emerged from the admiral’s briefing to tell reporters he was deeply disturbed.

‘What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things that I’ve seen in my time in public service,’ Himes said.

‘You have two individuals in clear distress, without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel, who were killed by the United States.’

Himes added that he wants the full video to be made public, however, he stated that he believes Bradley ‘did the right thing’ and has his full support.

Pentagon experts, including a legal adviser, overseeing the mission believed the survivors were potentially in communication with other nearby drug boats and were trying to salvage the remaining drugs in the ship’s cargo, the source said.

Himes added that he wants the full video to be made public, while stating that he believes Bradley ‘did the right thing’ and has his full support

The Secretary of War has been embroiled in scandal after the Washington Post reported that he ordered troops to ‘kill everybody.’

A spokesperson for US Special Operations Command declined to comment.

The Washington post reports that they spoke with 10 people who talked to Bradley directly while he was on Capitol Hill during hearings. Other sources were told about it secondhand after the fact.

A former federal prosecutor at the Department of Justice said in Politico that the boat strikes might be worse than torture.

Ankush Khardori makes the comparison, looking at a set of memos that President George W. Bush put out in their office of legal counsel, which discussed the treatment of military detainees after the September 11 attacks on the twin towers.

The documents – nicknamed ‘the torture memos’ allowed intense questioning practices, including waterboarding and long periods without sleep.

Khardori explains that he believes Trump’s boat strikes seem to be ‘less defensible’ and ‘even more worthy of serious public scrutiny.’