WASHINGTON — Adm. Frank M. Bradley saw the two survivors of a September strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat as legitimate military targets based on the rules for the operation, which may have identified them as narco-terrorists, a defense official told NBC News.
The military then launched a second strike on the same boat, generating controversy over whether the second strike was legal or could potentially constitute a war crime.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday night that Bradley concluded that the survivors of the first strike Sept. 2 were trying to continue a drug run, making them legitimate targets. NBC News has asked the Pentagon for comment on what Bradley plans to tell lawmakers as he briefs them Thursday.
Both the House and the Senate have launched inquiries into the second strike, which killed the two survivors, according to officials.
Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he did not see survivors after the first strike.
“The thing was on fire,” he said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. “It was exploded in fire and smoke. You can’t see it.”
Hegseth said “this is called the fog of war,” adding that while he watched the first strike live, he then moved on to other meetings and did not learn about the second strike until later.
The defense secretary said during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting that Bradley “made the correct decision” and emphasized that “we have his back.”
Bradley, who now serves as the head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, will brief leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees on the September strikes.
The House Armed Services Committee's ranking member, Adam Smith, D-Wash., said he will be at the briefing and that members would “try to get a full committee classified brief next week.”
