Uneasy Waters |
The latest Congressional briefings on the US military’s September boat strike in the Caribbean reveal a troubling truth: even as new details surface, the deeper questions surrounding America’s expanding anti-narcotics campaign remain unanswered. What lawmakers saw behind closed doors this week may have strengthened US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s immediate political footing, but it exposed the fragile legal and ethical foundations of a mission that has already taken more than 80 lives. The heart of the controversy is not merely whether Mr Hegseth uttered the words “kill them all”. The briefings appear to have absolved him of giving such an instruction.
Instead, the central dilemma lies in the second strike on a disabled vessel ~ the moment when two survivors, allegedly thrown into the water and unable to continue any mission, were targeted again. Admiral Frank Bradley, who authorised the second strike, has argued that the threat persisted because the boat still held........