A new, disturbing detail in the “drug boat” controversy that has enveloped Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the past week calls the purpose of the entire operation into question.
According to an exclusive report from CNN, the alleged narco-trafficking boat that the U.S. military targeted on September 2 in a “double tap” strike, which killed 11 people, wasn’t even heading to the U.S.
Navy Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who was in charge of the operation, reported to lawmakers that the boat they struck was actually en route to link up with a larger boat that was heading to Suriname, a country east of Venezuela, two sources with direct knowledge of his remarks said.
Bradley also said that it was still possible that the alleged drug shipment could have eventually ended up in the U.S., the sources told CNN—rather dubious justification for a strike that left several people dead.
If only there was some way they could prove it was a drug boat
I don’t know if it was in this particular chain of comments or one of the others, but I did say they should have boarded instead of shooting it at least, but that that is still illegal. The US Navy does not have the authority to do that. The US Coast Guard does have limited authority, but, IIRC, it still would have been illegal for them. There’s really no legal justification for what the US is doing, drug boats or not.