‘Always have the back of our commanders’: Pete Hegseth defends military over strikes on Venezuelan drug boats

US has paused boat strikes

He also stated that the US has paused strikes because it’s hard to find drug boats in the waters now. He, however, added that strikes against drug traffickers will continue.

According to Hegseth, the Department of Defense is getting back to its basics, which he said includes “lethality.”

Double tap strike under scanner

The cabinet meeting on Tuesday came on the backdrop of the Pentagon facing bipartisan scrutiny for a follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in September. The Washington Post first reported that Hegseth issued a verbal order for the second strike that killed survivors on the boat.

On Sunday, Trump defended Hegseth, saying, “Pete said he did not order the death of those two men,” and added that “I believe him.”

The White House said Monday that a Navy admiral acted “within his authority and the law” when he ordered the second strike.

According to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Navy Vice Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley had ordered the second strike on the alleged Venezuelan drug boat on September 2.

The first strike on the boat had killed nine occupants. Two people survived the first blast and were still clinging to the burning vessel when they were struck again.

According to The Washington Post, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken directive. “The order was to kill everybody.”

US military may have acted illegally

Though the Trump administration has insisted that the military action was legal, lawmakers have announced congressional reviews of the US military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs.

Admiral Bradley is expected to provide a classified briefing Thursday to lawmakers overseeing the military.

Legal experts say the US military would have committed a crime if survivors were killed.