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By Noah Robertson

The Pentagon’s top general held a call with senior lawmakers over the weekend to discuss the legality of lethal military strikes around Latin America, as Republican-led panels in both chambers vowed aggressive oversight following revelations that U.S. forces killed the survivors of a targeted boat strike.


The call, announced Monday by the office of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine, occurred after The Washington Post reported Friday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken order to kill the entire crew of a vessel thought to be ferrying narcotics in the Caribbean Sea, the first of more than 20 such strikes directed by the Trump administration since early September.

When two survivors were detected, the military commander overseeing the operation, Adm. Frank M. Bradley, directed another strike to comply with Hegseth’s order that no one be left alive, people with direct knowledge of the matter told The Post. The Trump administration has said 11 people were killed as a result of the attack.

Caine’s call with the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services committees included a conversation about the Latin America mission’s “intent and legality,” Caine’s office said in its brief account of the exchange. The general also expressed his “trust and confidence in the experienced commanders at every echelon,” the readout says. The statement does not identify Bradley or any other military officials by name.

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