Likewise, the US Navy’s handbook on the law of naval operations says combatants or belligerents who are hors de combat – out of the fight – by way of shipwreck may not be intentionally or indiscriminately attacked. This would be “a grave breach of the law of armed conflict”, the handbook says.
Presented with that argument, Leavitt told reporters: “The strike was conducted in international waters and in accordance with the law of armed conflict.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a press briefing at the White House on Monday.Credit: AP
Later, after the White House publicly said the order was given by Bradley, Hegseth took to social media to back his senior officer, but also to emphasise that the admiral made the decision.
“Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100 per cent support,” Hegseth said. “I stand by him and the combat decisions he has made – on the September 2 mission and all others since. America is fortunate to have such men protecting us.”
But the war secretary now faces inquiries from multiple congressional committees, while US President Donald Trump also said he would look into the matter.
In a joint statement, the top Republican and top Democrat on the Senate armed services committee said the group would be “conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances”.
US Senator Mark Kelly said the claims against Hegseth, if true, appeared to constitute a war crime.Credit: AP
Democratic senator and former naval officer Mark Kelly, a member of that committee, told CNN that if the claims were true, they appeared to constitute a war crime.
“We’re going to have hearings, we’ll put people under oath,” he said. “I’ve got serious concerns about anybody in that chain of command stepping over a line that they should never step over.”
Earlier, Trump told reporters he would not have wanted a second strike fired on survivors, but believed Hegseth was not responsible.
“Pete said that didn’t happen … Pete said he did not order the death of those two men,” Trump said on Sunday. “We’ll look into it.”
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More than 80 people have been killed by US strikes on boats alleged to be carrying drugs in the Caribbean or the Pacific Ocean since the September 2 operation. Hegseth and the Department of War routinely share vision of the strikes on social media.
The latest claims add to simmering concerns in Congress about the legality and ethics of the strikes. Some lawmakers have complained for three months about a lack of information on the operations coming through official briefing channels. Leavitt said on Monday that 13 briefings had been given to 29 senators and 92 representatives, two-thirds of whom were Democrats.
The Trump administration has declared it is in an armed conflict with cartels trafficking narcotics to the US, and that suspected traffickers are “unlawful combatants” associated with Venezuelan gangs such as Tren de Aragua.
The administration is also building up its military presence in the Caribbean, including at least one nuclear-powered submarine and the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, which arrived last month.
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters while in flight on Air Force One on Sunday.Credit: AP
Via a social media post over the weekend, Trump told airlines to consider the airspace above and around Venezuela to be closed. Some analysts said that could be a precursor to expanded strikes or a bid for leverage in any eventual negotiations with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
Trump confirmed he had spoken with Maduro, but would not reveal the contents of the call. “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly, it was a phone call,” he said.
Trump was also due to hold a meeting at the White House on Monday evening (Tuesday AEDT) about next steps on Venezuela, amid speculation the US plans to escalate military operations in a bid to oust Maduro from power.
Meanwhile, Hegseth defended the boat strikes in several media posts, including one depicting a cartoon turtle in a military helicopter shooting a missile at fishing boats stocked with packages.
Hegseth said all US operations in the Caribbean complied with US and international law, and the law of armed conflict, and were approved by military and civilian lawyers up and down the chain of command.
“Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organisation,” he said. “We have only just begun to kill narco-terrorists.”
