"Hegseth in a social media posting said the vessel was operated by a U.S.-designated terrorist organization but did not name which group was targeted. He said three people were killed in the strike. "This vessellike EVERY OTHERwas known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics," Hegseth said in a posting on X."
"He has asserted the U.S. is engaged in an "armed conflict" with drug cartels, relying on the same legal authority used by the Bush administration when it declared a war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Hegseth in his Saturday posting announcing the latest strike said "narco-terrorists are bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans at home" and the Defense Department "will treat them EXACTLY how we treated Al-Qaeda.""
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the U.S. military conducted another lethal strike on a vessel in the Caribbean operated by a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, killing three people. The vessel was known by intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting a narco-trafficking route and carrying narcotics. The strike is at least the 15th in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific since early September, bringing the total killed in the strikes to at least 64. The White House has resisted congressional demands for more information and legal opinions about the strikes and the groups and individuals targeted.
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