Pentagon Says Admiral ‘Made The Right Call’ On ‘Double Tap’ Strike | EUROtoday

The Pentagon on Tuesday continued to defend a “double tap” boat strike earlier this yr, whereas additionally downplaying Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s position in it as lawmakers scrutinize the U.S. assault that killed 11 individuals at sea.

Both the Pentagon and the White House have absolved Hegseth of any wrongdoing within the back-to-back strikes the U.S. navy carried out Sept. 2 on a Venezuelan boat off Trinidad’s coast. After two individuals aboard managed to outlive the primary strike, SEAL Team 6 was ordered to launch a second strike to wipe them out.

The strikes have been the main focus of final week’s explosive Washington Post report, which mentioned Hegseth ordered the Joint Special Operations Command to “kill everybody” on what he mentioned was a drug smuggling boat. The head of JSOC on the time, Adm. Frank Bailey, reportedly carried out the order.

Hegseth has denied the accuracy of the Post’s report, although he continues to defend U.S. assaults on boats in worldwide waters regardless of public and congressional considerations that the operations quantity to battle crimes. Hegseth and his division additionally say he was unaware of the second strike Bradley had carried out till hours later.

“The decision to restrike the narcoterrorist vessel was made by Adm. Bradley, operating under clear and longstanding authorities to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States was eliminated,” Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson informed reporters on Tuesday.

“Secretary Hegseth stands behind Adm. Bradley 100%,” she continued. “Adm. Bradley made the right call.”

While claiming to “have the back” of Bradley and different commanders, Hegseth distanced himself from the strikes {that a} bipartisan group of lawmakers has condemned for lack of oversight, suggesting he was not making the judgment calls within the assaults.

During Tuesday’s Cabinet assembly with President Donald Trump, Hegseth mentioned that the U.S. navy has “only just begun striking narco boats and putting narcoterrorists at the bottom of the ocean.”

“As President Trump always has our back, we always have the back of our commanders who are making decisions in difficult situations, and we do in this case and all these strikes,” Hegseth mentioned. “They’re making judgment calls ensuring they defend the American people. They’ve done the right things, they’ll keep doing that, and we’ll have their backs.”

One month after the September strikes, Bradley was promoted to run the U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversees JSOC. Wilson mentioned Tuesday that the U.S. navy has killed a minimum of 82 individuals in its focused assaults on small boats for the reason that September operation.

Some lawmakers mentioned that they’ve but to obtain data that will legally justify the Pentagon going over Congress’ head to strike a ship that has been accused, with out proof, of smuggling medication to the U.S., calling for “vigorous oversight” and an investigation.