The U.S. military commander who recently announced his retirement after overseeing strikes on alleged South American drug boats was “asked” to step aside, a Pentagon official said Thursday.
Adm. Alvin Holsey’s retirement was revealed in October by War Secretary Pete Hegseth. But behind the scenes, Hegseth told the leader of the U.S. Southern Command to step down amid burgeoning disagreements about the Pentagon’s controversial orders to conduct multiple lethal strikes on the vessels in the Caribbean Sea, according to a new Wall Street Journal report.
When pressed on the report this week, a Pentagon official told the Washington Examiner that Holsey “was not fired, he was asked to retire on good terms.”
“Since that time, the team has worked in harmony. We are grateful for his service to our nation, and we wish him well in his future endeavors,” the official said.
Holsey oversaw U.S. military operations in the Caribbean and had served for more than 37 years before being ordered by Hegseth to carry out several strikes on suspected drug trafficker boats off the coast of Venezuela.
Hegseth’s leadership at the Pentagon has been under scrutiny due to the strikes targeting “narco-terrorists,” as Congress this week weighs accusations that he advocated for a “kill them all” approach to those on the boats without proper evidence that they were drug traffickers.
Concerns primarily revolve around a controversial second military strike on a suspected drug-trafficking boat on Sept. 2 that the White House says was ordered by Navy Adm. Mitch Bradley.
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The ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes (D-MA), said Thursday that Bradley’s latest classified briefing showed there was never a “kill-them-all” order given regarding the strikes on suspected drug boats, and that those giving the orders “did the right thing.”
“Bradley has a storied career, and he has my respect, and he should have the respect of all of us,” Himes said.
