US defense secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday declined to say whether the Pentagon will release video footage from the September 2 operation targeting an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean – an attack that killed eleven people and has drawn renewed scrutiny after reports that a second missile killed survivors of the initial strike.“We’re reviewing the process, and we’ll see,” Hegseth said during a Q&A at a defense forum hosted by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. “Whatever we were to decide to release, we’d have to be very responsible about reviewing that right now.”The Washington Post reported last week that two survivors attempting to climb back aboard the vessel were struck by a second missile. The White House has confirmed that the second strike occurred, though both the White House and Hegseth deny he ordered it. Hegseth reiterated that the second missile was authorised by navy admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who led the operation. “In this particular case, it was well within the authorities of Adm. Bradley,” he said.Lawmakers were shown video of the second strike in a closed-door session on Thursday. After the briefing, Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Jim Himes told reporters that Bradley had said he had not been ordered to leave no survivors. The Post, citing an anonymous source, had reported that Hegseth issued an order that “everyone on the boat be taken out.”Hegseth rejected the allegation on Saturday. “You don’t walk in and say ‘Kill them all.’ It’s just patently ridiculous,” he said, adding the report was “meant to create a cartoon of me and the decisions that we make.” Still, he said he “fully support[s] that strike” and “would have made the same call myself.”Sources familiar with the video told CBS News that the two survivors were waving overhead before being hit, a gesture that could have been interpreted as either calling for help or warning against another strike. Some legal experts have questioned whether the second strike could constitute a war crime.The September 2 attack was the first in a series of vessel strikes in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. According to Pentagon figures, at least 87 people have been killed in 22 such strikes, though the administration has not released evidence the targeted vessels were carrying narcotics. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said, “I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have we’ll certainly release, no problem.“Despite that assurance, Hegseth maintained Saturday that the Pentagon is still weighing any release. “We are reviewing it right now,” he said.In his speech, Hegseth also defended the broader campaign against suspected drug-smuggling boats. “We’ve been clear, if you’re working for a designated terrorist organization, and you bring drugs into this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you,” he said. “…We are killing them. We will keep killing them so long as they are poisoning our people with narcotics so lethal they’re tantamount to chemical weapons.”
