Washington, Dec 2 (EFE).- The United States Department of War confirmed on Tuesday that Admiral Frank Bradley “made the right call” by ordering a second attack on a suspected drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean that ended the lives of two occupants who had survived an initial attack.
The Department also defended the legality of these anti-drug operations.
“Secretary (of War Pete) Hegseth stands behind Admiral Bradley 100%. Admiral Bradley made the right call,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson at a press conference.
She insisted that these actions “have also been approved by the best military and civilian lawyers up and down the chain of command.”
Wilson reiterated that the decision to reattack the “narcoterrorist” vessel was made by Admiral Bradley, who operated under clear and longstanding authorities to ensure the vessel’s destruction and eliminate the threat to the US.
Bradley is a US Navy admiral who, at the time of the attack, was commander of the Joint Special Operations Command.
On Nov. 27, The Washington Post reported, citing anonymous officials, that a second attack was executed to kill two survivors of the initial attack in the Sep. 2 bombing, in which all 11 people aboard a vessel allegedly linked to drug trafficking died.
The Trump administration confirmed that these operations were carried out under the president’s and Secretary Hegseth’s orders as part of the anti-drug trafficking campaign, for which Washington has deployed a large military operation in the Caribbean, extending attacks on small vessels to the Pacific.
Both the White House and the Pentagon have dismissed the newspaper’s reports as false and defended the US’s right to stop the flow of drugs into the country.
However, the administration’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, did not respond when asked what law allows for no survivors in a military attack on the high seas.
According to figures confirmed Tuesday by the US Department of Defense, a total of 21 attacks have been carried out against alleged drug-trafficking boats since the start of operations late August, resulting in the deaths of 82 people.
“Each strike conducted against these designated terrorist organizations is taken in defense of vital US national interests and to protect the homeland,” affirmed the Pentagon spokeswoman at the press conference, the first the Department has held since withdrawing credentials from most accredited media outlets for not accepting rules that would obligate them to report only approved information. EFE
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