Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
Questions are mounting after reports suggested survivors of a botched interdiction may have been deliberately targeted.
A growing dispute over a deadly operation at sea has placed fresh attention on the legality of US actions in the Caribbean.
US officials say the September 2 incident involved a suspected drug-smuggling vessel near Trinidad.
But a Washington Post investigation reported that former Fox News host, now Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth allegedly told officials to “kill everybody” on board, prompting Admiral Frank Bradley to order a second strike on people clinging to the shattered boat.
Legal doubts grow
The administration says the mission took place in international waters and followed the law of armed conflict. Yet broader legal concerns persist.
The Post reported that US forces have hit at least 22 vessels in a series of strikes, killing more than 80 people.
Though not party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Washington states it generally adheres to its principles, which restrict lethal force against ships except in self-defence.
After the first boat strike, Michael Becker of Trinity College Dublin told the BBC, that classifying the Tren de Aragua cartel as terrorists does not make its members lawful military targets.
Hegseth: Did not see survivors
Tuesday, Pete Hegseth said at a cabinet meeting, that he watched the first boat strike in real time, but that he did not see any survivors, according to Reuters.
He also described the second strike on the alleged drug-smuggling boat as being varried out in the “fog of war”.
According to Washington Post, Hegseth said that he learned of survivors hours after the second strike.
Questions of intent
Citing Fox News, The Independent reports that Fox News-veteran Brit Hume told the network’s Special Report that any legal determination rests on why the follow-up strike was launched.
“That’s what it comes down to, is what the intention of the second strike was,” he said, noting that targeting survivors would pose “a big problem” if proven.
He added that a mistaken belief the vessel remained a threat would present “another matter”.
According to the White House, the military acted appropriately. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Monday insisted Bradley operated “well within his authority and the law” and said the engagement aimed to destroy the vessel and neutralise what officials described as “narco terrorists”, according to Reuters.
Sources: The Independent, Washington Post, BBC, Reuters
