Pete Hegseth denies that he gave orders to ‘kill everybody’ on alleged ‘narco-boat’ | Pete Hegseth

US defense secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday evening declared “fake news” recent reports that he may have illegally ordered the killing of entire humans in a military offensive in the Caribbean, adding that attacks on people on boats were “legal under both US and international law.”

Hegseth criticized reports about his role in the strike as “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory news intended to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.”

These words came after the Washington Post report This week, Hegseth allegedly ordered defense officials traveling on a boat monitored by analysts to “kill everyone” on September 2; This was the first of many attacks carried out by the Trump administration in recent months. The White House has said — without evidence — that people killed in Pentagon operations on boats in the Caribbean were drug traffickers.

Following the Washington Post’s reporting, two senators (Republican Roger Wicker and Democrat Jack Reed) issued a statement saying the Senate armed services committee would investigate the boat attacks.

“The Committee is aware of recent news and the Department of Defense’s initial response regarding subsequent allegations of attacks on suspected narcotics vessels in SOUTHCOM’s area of ​​responsibility,” the senators wrote in a joint statement.

“The Committee referred investigations to the Department and we will conduct rigorous oversight to establish the facts of the circumstances.”

During the Sept. 2 operation led by elite counterterrorism group Seal Team 6, the initial missile strike left two survivors clinging to debris, the Post reported. Admiral Frank M “Mitch” Bradley, head of Special Operations Command, reportedly ordered a second strike to kill the two survivors in order to comply with Hegseth’s orders.

Some current and former U.S. officials and experts have said the Trump administration’s missile strikes in the Caribbean may be illegal, according to the Post. More than 80 people have been killed so far in a series of military attacks in which at least 22 more boats were targeted.

Historically, the U.S. government has banned drug-smuggling boats on the water and prosecuted alleged smugglers.

The Trump administration accused everyone on the boats in the Caribbean of being drug traffickers and said they were primarily members of the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that is the administration’s main focus. Most of the boats left Venezuela, where political pressure from the US government continues to mount.

“The declared goal is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said on social media. to mail Friday evening. “Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization.”

Earlier this year, the Trump administration designated Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization. The administration has also accused Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro of being the head of the Cartel de los Soles, a so-called drug trafficking organization composed of senior Venezuelan government and military officials. Although the administration declared Cartel de los Soles a terrorist organization, organized crime experts to say The group is a loose network of lower-ranking military officials without a rigid hierarchical structure.

Trump said the U.S. attacked the boats because of the high rates of fentanyl-related overdose deaths. But lawmakers, narcotics experts and former law enforcement officials rejected that claim because the fentanyl did not come from Venezuela.

A. report An Associated Press report this month cast doubt on the Trump administration’s claims about the boat attacks. It details the lives of some of the men killed and reveals that although some of these men were indeed selling drugs, they “were not narco terrorists or cartel or gang leaders.”

Venezuelan officials and some other countries have condemned the administration’s attacks in the Caribbean, saying they are a violation of due process. Venezuela’s ambassador to the UN described the attacks as “extrajudicial killings”.

The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that the alleged traffickers pose a direct threat to the United States, leading them to say they are in “armed conflict” with the groups. The Guardian reported this week that the Trump administration framed the attacks as an effort in self-defense on behalf of US allies in the region. Only a few people survived throughout the strikes, including an Ecuadorian man and a Colombian man who were captured by the United States. then i came back to their own country.

In October, a boat attack on Mexico’s Pacific coast led the Mexican navy to launch a war. search and rescue operation For survivors targeted in an attack.

Internally, Defense Department officials have been quietly expressing concern about boat attacks. A top military lawyer disagreed with the Trump administration that the strikes were legal and was later sidelined by other officials, NBC reported. And Adm. Alvin Holsey, the commander who oversaw the boat attacks, resigned in October. Although the reason for Holsey’s departure is unknown, New York Times reported had expressed domestic concerns about attacks on boats.