Republican senators are demanding to know who at the Pentagon authorized a second strike aimed at killing the survivors of a Sept. 2 missile attack on a suspected Venezuelan drug boat — an action they warn could violate international law, The Hill reported.
A growing number of GOP lawmakers said Tuesday that striking defenseless survivors clinging to the wreckage undermines the United States' long-standing commitment to strict rules of engagement and professional conduct in military operations.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., vowed "rigorous oversight" in announcing a bipartisan inquiry late Friday.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said "the first thing we need to do is to get to the facts."
"My understanding is that we may have a problem if you're killing survivors in water after a strike. But I want to see the actual stuff within the [military] codes," Rounds said. "We're just going to get the facts first."
Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., said it was "unacceptable" to order a missile strike on survivors.
"I'm not comfortable with the two blow. You know, if that really happened. And I'm not comfortable; I just think it's unacceptable," Justice said Tuesday.
At issue is a Washington Post report Friday that said War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sept. 2 ordered U.S. forces to "kill everybody" on an alleged drug-smuggling boat with 11 people aboard. After the first strike left two survivors, a second strike was reportedly carried out.
Hegseth took to X to respond, saying "the fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting" but without addressing the core allegation — that a second strike was ordered on survivors.
President Donald Trump weighed in Sunday, saying, "Pete said he did not want them — he didn't even know what people were talking about."
That caught the attention of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
"Do we think there's any chance that, on Sunday, the secretary of the defense did not know there had been a second strike?" Paul told reporters Tuesday, adding, "either he was lying to us on Sunday, or he's incompetent and didn't know it had happened."
Hegseth on Tuesday cited the "fog of war" for confusion surrounding his initial comments, but fully backed Navy Vice Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley's decision to order the second strike.
"Adm. Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat," Hegseth said Tuesday. "And it was the right call. We have his back."
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that "clearly somebody made a mistake," adding, "Now the question is who's responsible for it."
However, Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., issued a forceful rebuke of Democrats — and now even what he called complicit Republicans — for attempting to smear Hegseth.
"The truth is that the Democrats never wanted Pete Hegseth. He's a threat to the Washington establishment. They've tried over and over to try to derail him; he's doing a great job. This is a totally bogus story," Schmitt said.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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