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The alleged “double tap strike” by US Navy SEALs on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean on the orders of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth appears to be a war crime, according to Senator Mark Kelly.
Before the September attack, Hegseth had given the order to “kill everyone” on the alleged narco-terrorist ship, according to a US official with direct knowledge of the operation. Washington PostThe initial attack disabled the boat and killed some of the men on board, while others clung to the boat for dear life,
Kelly was one of a handful of Democratic members of Congress, all veterans of the armed services, who released a video message urging members of the military to follow the law when faced with illegal orders from their commanders. The video caused an uproar on the right, with Donald Trump apparently calling for the death penalty for every Democrat who participated in the video.
Kelly responded on Sunday CNN reports and Post details of 2nd September strike Against a ship in the Caribbean, which included never-before-reported detailed accounts of a second attack against a disabled ship with the aim of killing survivors in the water.
“Going after survivors in the water, that’s obviously not legal,” Kelly told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday. “If what has been reported is accurate, I have serious concerns.”
In response, Post According to the report, an American commander overseeing the operation, following Hegseth’s orders, directed a second attack on the burning ship. The two survivors of the initial attack are believed to have been killed.
Asked directly by CNN whether PostThe Arizona senator, citing his experience in carrying out attacks against the Iraqi Navy in the Gulf War, said his account would constitute a war crime, and confirmed that an attack on survivors would cross that line.
These deaths are a small part of the dozens of people killed so far as a result of the escalating US military campaign against small boats operating off the coast of Venezuela and Colombia. The Trump administration and the president’s most ardent supporters have argued that they are carrying dangerous drugs to America.
At least 80 people have been confirmed killed in the attacks. Additionally, the US has built up significant military assets in the region, leading many to fear major ground or air operations within Venezuela. The Trump administration had named Nicolas Maduro, the country’s permanent president, as the leader of a drug cartel made up of top officials and military officers, known as the “Cartel de los Souls”, as early as 2025.
Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, added to CBS face the nation On Sunday’s strike: “If true it rises to the level of a war crime.”
Members of the respective committees overseeing the armed forces in the House and Senate Announced plans to investigate reports American operation on 2 September. Under Republican leadership, given the GOP’s double majority in Congress, military-focused committees are generally protected to some degree from the partisan divide that defines other policy committees and powerful groups like the House Oversight Committee.
“The Committee is aware of recent news reports and the Department of Defense’s initial response regarding alleged follow-up attacks on suspected narcotics vessels in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” the Republican and Democratic senators who lead the House Armed Services Committee said in a joint statement Friday.
“The Committee has directed the Department to investigate, and we will conduct a vigorous investigation to determine the facts surrounding these circumstances.”
The president’s aides continue to insist that the US is not plotting a full-scale invasion of Venezuela. In A true social post on Saturday, The US President directed airlines and other citizens to evacuate all Venezuelan airspace.
“To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers, please consider a complete closure of the airspace over and around Venezuela. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President Donald J. Trump”, he wrote Saturday morning.