WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement in response to a briefing from the Commander of the United States Special Operations Command, Admiral Frank Bradley, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, on the unauthorized lethal military action in the Caribbean.
"We appreciate that Admiral Bradley and Chairman Caine came to Congress today to brief Committee leadership on the boat strikes in the Caribbean, and particularly the troubling reporting about follow up strikes taken on September 2 against two individuals who survived the first strike. Both Admiral Bradley and Chairman Caine are honorable men who have served our country with distinction, but we saw or heard nothing today to convince us that the decision to strike the vessel a second time was justified. The video we saw today showed two shipwrecked individuals who had no means to move, much less pose an immediate threat, and yet they were killed by the United States military. Regardless of what one believes about the legal underpinnings of these operations, and we have been clear we believe they are highly questionable, this was wrong.
"Secretary of Defense Hegseth is ultimately responsible for these operations, and this administration’s policy choices and unfettered belligerence put our service members in extraordinarily difficult positions where they are asked to execute missions that push the boundaries of the law and our values. We believe the full video, difficult as it is to watch, should be released publicly. The briefing left us with more questions than answers, and Congress must continue to investigate this matter and conduct oversight.
"There is no question that illicit drugs are a major problem in the United States, but so is the President of the United States taking unilateral lethal action. Americans must ask themselves: Are we OK with this enormous expansion of the President’s power to kill people without due process? Is the President ordering the killings of alleged low-level drug dealers really going to impact America’s drug problem? And how does this match up with the same president pardoning the likes of Ross Ulbricht, convicted of laundering billions of dollars selling drugs on the dark web, and Honduran President Juan Hernandez, a convicted drug smuggler?"
"We appreciate that Admiral Bradley and Chairman Caine came to Congress today to brief Committee leadership on the boat strikes in the Caribbean, and particularly the troubling reporting about follow up strikes taken on September 2 against two individuals who survived the first strike. Both Admiral Bradley and Chairman Caine are honorable men who have served our country with distinction, but we saw or heard nothing today to convince us that the decision to strike the vessel a second time was justified. The video we saw today showed two shipwrecked individuals who had no means to move, much less pose an immediate threat, and yet they were killed by the United States military. Regardless of what one believes about the legal underpinnings of these operations, and we have been clear we believe they are highly questionable, this was wrong.
"Secretary of Defense Hegseth is ultimately responsible for these operations, and this administration’s policy choices and unfettered belligerence put our service members in extraordinarily difficult positions where they are asked to execute missions that push the boundaries of the law and our values. We believe the full video, difficult as it is to watch, should be released publicly. The briefing left us with more questions than answers, and Congress must continue to investigate this matter and conduct oversight.
"There is no question that illicit drugs are a major problem in the United States, but so is the President of the United States taking unilateral lethal action. Americans must ask themselves: Are we OK with this enormous expansion of the President’s power to kill people without due process? Is the President ordering the killings of alleged low-level drug dealers really going to impact America’s drug problem? And how does this match up with the same president pardoning the likes of Ross Ulbricht, convicted of laundering billions of dollars selling drugs on the dark web, and Honduran President Juan Hernandez, a convicted drug smuggler?"
###