Pentagon backs Admiral Bradley over narco-terror strike
"As the White House confirmed yesterday, the decision to restrike the narco-terrorist vessel was made by Admiral Bradley, operating under clear and long-standing authorities to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States was eliminated," Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said at a news briefing.
"Secretary Hegseth stands behind Admiral Bradley 100%. Admiral Bradley made the right call," Wilson added.
Reports had indicated that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth ordered the follow-on strike after an initial attack on the vessel did not eliminate everyone on board. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Hegseth had "authorized" Admiral Bradley, the commander of US Special Operations Command, to execute the strikes.
Wilson confirmed that, so far, 21 strikes have been carried out against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Western Hemisphere, resulting in 82 deaths of "narco-terrorists." She emphasized that each operation serves US national interests and is legally sanctioned.
"These actions have also been approved by the best military and civilian lawyers up and down the chain of command. A completely fake story in the Washington Post, now discredited by the New York Times, tried to mischaracterize these successful strikes in bad faith," Wilson said.
She further detailed that the strikes are "presidentially directed, and the chain of command functions as it should," with commanders on the ground consulted before decisions are made.
"At the end of the day, the secretary and the president are the ones directing these strikes, and any follow-on strikes like those which were directed by Admiral Bradley—the secretary 100% agrees with," Wilson said.
Hegseth, speaking alongside President Donald Trump at a Cabinet meeting, declared, "We've only just begun striking narco-boats and putting narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they've been poisoning the American people. … We've had a bit of a pause, because it's hard to find boats to strike right now."
He added that Trump "always has our back" and reiterated support for commanders making tough decisions in the field: "They've done the right things. We'll keep doing that, and we have their backs."
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