Commander of September attack believed survivors were continuing drug run, report says

The U S military commander involved in a deadly Sept strike on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean is expected to tell lawmakers Thursday that a follow-up attack was ordered against two survivors because he assumed they were attempting to continue their drug run a assessment mentioned The version of events that Adm Frank Mitch Bradley plans to describe to members of Congress in a closed-door briefing would push back on asserts from a few legal experts that the killing of the two survivors in the second strike could have amounted to a war crime The Wall Street Journal revealed The newspaper citing two defense personnel shared that Bradley will say that he and his legal adviser concluded that the two survivors were attempting to press forward with their drug run making them and their already-damaged boat a legitimate target for a follow-up attack The personnel added that Bradley as part of his decision considered that enemy boats were nearby and the survivors were thought to be communicating by radio with others in their drug smuggling system TRUMP BACKS RELEASE OF SECOND CARIBBEAN STRIKE FOOTAGE AS SCRUTINY OVER OPERATION INTENSIFIESThe Sept attack was the Trump administration s first use of military force against a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean and the only one in which survivors are known to have been targeted and killed in a follow-up operation according to the Journal The defense bureaucrats narrated the newspaper that the Coast Guard rescued two survivors of another strike in mid-October on a submersible because they were deemed unable to fight The White House disclosed Monday that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth authorized the second strike but Bradley ordered and directed it At the time of the strike Bradley was serving as the commander of Joint Special Operations Command which falls under U S Special Operations Command SPEC OPS CHIEF ORDERED DEADLY CARIBBEAN STRIKE IN SELF-DEFENSE WITH HEGSETH S SIGN-OFF WHITE HOUSE SAYS Let s make one thing crystal clear Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero a true professional and has my advocacy I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made on the September mission and all others since Hegseth wrote on X on Monday night Adm Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat Hegseth added during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday Fox News Digital s Diana Stancy contributed to this overview