US EditionBoat at center of double-tap strike controversy was meeting vessel headed to Suriname, admiral told lawmakers
Admiral Bradley justified the strike on a drug-smuggling boat that planned to transfer narcotics to a larger vessel bound for Suriname, resulting in 11 deaths amid legal and political scrutiny.
- On September 2, US forces struck a small boat in an operation targeting alleged drug traffickers, Adm. Frank Bradley, who led Joint Special Operations Command, briefed lawmakers on Thursday.
- Intelligence showed the boat aimed to rendezvous with a larger ship bound for Suriname, but Adm. Frank Bradley said forces could not locate the second vessel; he argued the shipment still risked reaching the United States.
- The boat turned after spotting US aircraft, then was struck four times; the first hit split it, leaving two survivors clinging to a capsized portion, CNN reported on Thursday.
- Bipartisan scrutiny has followed, with the Senate Armed Services Committee promising oversight, while the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the strikes.
- President Donald Trump defended the strike, saying it targeted narcotics "heading to the United States," while Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the boat was "probably headed to Trinidad or some other country in the Caribbean.
57 Articles
57 Articles
Hegseth Ordered Everyone on the Boat Killed
"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. military on Sept. 2 to kill all 11 people on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea because they were on an internal list of narco-terrorists who U.S. intelligence and military officials determined could be lethally targeted, the command
Admiral told lawmakers everyone on alleged drug boat was on a list of military targets
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. military on Sept. 2 to kill all 11 people on a suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean Sea because they were on an internal list of narco-terrorists who U.S. intelligence and military officials determined could be lethally targeted, the commander overseeing the operation told lawmakers in briefings this past week, according to two U.S. officials and one person familiar with the c
The chief of the Pentagon defends himself: "I didn't know about the survivors"
Since September 2025, American military personnel in the Caribbean have attacked ships that, according to the U.S. administration, carry drugs from Venezuela, with at least 21 ships drowned and at least 83 dead.
Boat Destroyed in Double-Tap Strike Was Not Heading to U.S.
The Trump Administration’s justification for striking a boat in the Caribbean in early September, killing all 11 people on board in multiple strikes, was that it was carrying a cargo of potentially deadly drugs that was headed to the United States. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] But that justification appears to have been undermined by a briefing from the commander of that operation before lawmakers on Thursday, who reportedly said the boat in…
Several legislators said men were waving their arms into the air, a gesture that could be interpreted as surrender or a ransom request.
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