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.