Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is under pressure this week as a Navy admiral faces tough questions from lawmakers about the legality of striking boats allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Members of Congress have now seen the video of U.S. strikes on a boat in the Caribbean. In a few moments, we’ll hear from one of those lawmakers, Democrat Jim Himes.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
But first, let’s get to what we know. Democrats said they were disturbed by the second hit on a boat allegedly carrying drugs that killed two men after the boat was disabled. Republicans said the strike was justified because those two people might otherwise have continued on to their destination.
INSKEEP: That is one of two big stories focused on the Pentagon, and NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman is covering both. Tom, good morning.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Hey, Steve.
INSKEEP: OK. So let’s get this other story out of the way first. Inspector general report is now public about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharing information about an attack on the Signal texting app. What did you learn by reading the report?
BOWMAN: Well, it said that two to four hours before the airstrikes by American F-18 pilots, Secretary Hegseth – he was getting a classified briefing from General Eric Carillo about the upcoming attacks on Houthi rebels. A lot of detail about the number of planes, the targets, the timing. And while Hegseth was getting this, he was sharing it on a Signal chat with other officials and on another chat with his wife, his brother and his lawyer. None of those three had security clearances, and all of this was secret information, the report said.
INSKEEP: And let’s just disclose, as we do, that NPR’s CEO, Katherine Maher, also chairs the board of the Signal Foundation, which has a subsidiary that makes this app. But what has been the reaction to the inspector general?
BOWMAN: Well, Secretary Hegseth’s spokesman said the IG report exonerates him. That is not true. Nothing in the 76 pages says anything close to that. It does say that the Pentagon should be aware of proper procedures on the handling of classified information. It only states facts, Steve, not what should happen next.
INSKEEP: All right. So let’s now talk about this second strike on the boat in the Caribbean. What are lawmakers saying, and what are you learning now that they have seen this video and also heard from the commander involved?
BOWMAN: Well, Admiral Mitch Bradley, the top commander overseeing Central and South America, appeared behind closed doors to explain what happened. Lawmakers said he defended that second missile strike, saying basically, the survivors of the initial strike were still kind of being active, trying to reach their comrades by radio, trying to corral drugs on the boat that was nearly destroyed. So Bradley, again, ordered this second missile strike to kill them and then two more to sink the boat. Secretary Hegseth said he was only there for the first missile strike on the boat and didn’t see the others. He had meetings, he said. Now lawmakers are asking, you know, did the second missile strike result in an illegal killing, a war crime? Because, Steve, the Pentagon’s Law of War Manual lays out what is an illegal order that no service member has to obey, and the manual has this example. Get this. Quote, “for example, orders to fire upon the shipwrecked would be clearly illegal.”
INSKEEP: Tom, granting the differing interpretations, it does seem that everyone came out of the closed-door video session saying this boat was severely damaged at the least and even capsized. Any doubt about that?
BOWMAN: I don’t think there is. Senator Tom Cotton said these guys, the two survivors, are trying to flip over this capsized boat. Congressman Adam Smith and others said, listen, they were just shirtless guys, and not much of this boat was above water. So that’s why it’s important, I think, for the public to see this video. It should be released.
INSKEEP: NPR’s Tom Bowman. Thanks so much.
BOWMAN: You’re welcome.
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