Exclusive: Survivors clinging to capsized boat didn't radio for backup, admiral overseeing double-tap strike tells lawma [View all]

Source: CNN

The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers on Thursday, according to three sources with direct knowledge of his congressional briefings.

As far back as September, defense officials have been quietly pushing back on criticism that killing the two survivors amounted to a war crime by arguing, in part, that they were legitimate targets because they appeared to be radioing for help or backup — reinforcements that, if they had received it, could have theoretically allowed them to continue to traffic the drugs aboard their sinking ship.
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The initial hit on the vessel, believed to be carrying cocaine, killed nine people immediately and split the boat in half, capsizing it and sending a massive smoke plume into the sky, the sources who viewed the video as part of the briefings said. Part of the surveillance video was a zoomed-in, higher-definition view of the two survivors clinging to a still-floating, capsized portion, they said.
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Ultimately, Bradley told lawmakers, he ordered a second strike to destroy the remains of the vessel, killing the two survivors, on the grounds that it appeared that part of the vessel remained afloat because it still held cocaine, according to one of the sources. The survivors could hypothetically have floated to safety, been rescued, and carried on with trafficking the drugs, the logic went.

Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/04/politics/strike-lawmakers-briefing-radio-survivors

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Republican Senator Tom Cotton: "I saw lots of evidence of them standing on the boat that had been capsized, , trying to get it back up ... to continue their mission"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220848481
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/05/us/video/berman-tom-cotton-drug-boat-cnc

Bare faced lying.