US military conducts strike on another suspected drug boat as probe into the first strike begins

By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press WASHINGTON AP U S Southern Command released that it had conducted another strike against a small boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Thursday following a pause of almost three weeks It is the nd strike the U S military has carried out against boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that the Trump administration claimed were trafficking drugs There were four casualties in Thursday s strike according to the social media post bringing the death toll of the campaign to at least people Related Articles Grand jury rejects new mortgage fraud indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James Stress of Houthi combat was a key factor in series of costly Navy mishaps investigations show -day school weeks are growing in popularity despite a lack of information on the effects Admiral says there was no kill them all order After shutdown federal employees face new uncertainty affording soundness insurance In a video that accompanied the announcement a small boat can be seen moving across the water before it is suddenly consumed by a large explosion The video then zooms out to show the boat covered in flames and billowing smoke The strike was conducted the same day Adm Frank Mitch Bradley appeared for a series of closed-door classified briefings at the U S Capitol as lawmakers began an review into the very first strike carried out by the military on Sept The sessions came after a analysis that Bradley ordered a follow-on attack that killed the survivors to comply with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth s demands Bradley notified lawmakers there was no kill them all order from Hegseth but a stark video of the entire series of attacks left particular lawmakers with serious questions Legal experts have noted killing survivors of a strike at sea could be a violation of the laws of military warfare Bradley spoke to lawmakers alongside the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Dan Caine in a classified session His testimony provided fresh information at a crucial moment as Hegseth s leadership comes under scrutiny but it did little to resolve growing questions about the legal basis for President Donald Trump s extraordinary campaign to use war powers against suspected drug coyotes Lawmakers offered differing accounts of what they saw on the video Republican Sen Tom Cotton of Arkansas mentioned he saw the survivors trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound for United States back over so they could stay in the fight Connecticut Rep Jim Himes the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee revealed What I saw in that room was one of the the majority troubling things I ve seen in my time in society arrangement You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion with a destroyed vessel he revealed adding they were killed by the United States Washington Rep Adam Smith the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee explained the survivors were basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat drifting in the water until the missiles come and kill them