Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said the Trump administration committed a “war crime” over the report of its “double tap” order to kill survivors of an alleged drug-carrying vessel.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon are the target of scrutiny over the strikes on boats suspected to be carrying narcotics from Venezuela, with a recent report saying the Trump administration ordered a follow-up strike targeting the two survivors of a destroyed vessel. The White House has defended the strike, and press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Hegseth tasked Adm. Mitch Bradley with this mission and that it was Bradley, not Hegseth, who ordered the second strike.
Duckworth reproved Hegseth on Sunday, saying the people on the boat weren’t “aimed” at the United States.
HEGSETH SLAMS BIDEN’S ‘KID GLOVES APPROACH’ TO NARCO-TERRORISM IN DEFENSE OF DRUG BOAT STRIKES
“So everything that they’ve done has been illegal. It’s illegal under international law, it’s illegal under the Geneva Convention, and it certainly is illegal under domestic law. It was essentially murder with that double-tap strike,” Duckworth said on CNN’s State of the Union.
CNN anchor Dana Bash said murder is “a very strong statement” and asked if this constitutes a war crime. Duckworth said it does, adding, “It’s all illegal.”
Duckworth also initially said she’s seen the video of the strikes, saying it is “deeply disturbing” and Hegseth is “the least qualified secretary of defense.” However, when Bash clarified if this was the video of the double-tap strike, Duckworth said she’s only seen “what’s been available in the media” and has requested to see the full video.
HEGSETH DOESN’T RULE OUT USING SIGNAL AGAIN FOR MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS
Adm. Alvin Holsey, who announced his retirement after overseeing strikes on alleged South American drug boats, had been told by Hegseth to step down amid disagreements about the Pentagon’s orders to conduct strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea. A Pentagon official told the Washington Examiner that Hosley “was not fired, he was asked to retire on good terms.”
Venezuela announced on Tuesday that it will resume accepting flights from the United States carrying native deportees in response to a request from the Trump administration. The flights were recently temporarily canceled after President Donald Trump closed the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela “in its entirety.”
