WordType Designs™
Driven To Distractions©
The Sound of One Hand Clapping©

A rchive Date
[ 30-11-2025 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
      [https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/military-boat-strike-review-trump-venezuela-9.6998143

      U.S. lawmakers voice bipartisan support for reviewing Trump's military strikes on alleged cartel boats
      Calls for review follow Washington Post report on deadly Sept. 2 attack
      The Associated Press · Posted: Nov 30, 2025 3:56 PM EST

      Lawmakers from both U.S. parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of a Sept. 2 attack.

      The lawmakers said they did not know whether last week's Washington Post report was true, and some Republicans were skeptical, but they said attacking survivors of an initial missile strike poses serious legal concerns.

      "This rises to the level of a war crime if it's true," said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

      Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, when asked about a follow-up strike aimed at people no long able to fight, said Congress does not have information that happened. He noted that leaders of the Armed Services Committee in both the House and Senate have opened investigations.
      "Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious and I agree that that would be an illegal act," Turner said.

      Turner said there are concerns in Congress about the attacks on vessels that the Trump administration says are transporting drugs, but the allegations regarding the Sept. 2 attack "is completely outside anything that has been discussed with Congress and there is an ongoing investigation."

      The comments from lawmakers during news show appearance come as the administration escalates a campaign to combat drug trafficking into the U.S. On Saturday, Republican President Donald Trump said the airspace "above and surrounding" Venezuela should be considered as "closed in its entirety," an assertion that raised more questions about the U.S. pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Maduro's government accused Trump of making a "colonial threat" and seeking to undermine the South American country's sovereignty.

      After the Post's report, Hegseth said Friday on X that "fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland."

      "Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict—and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command," Hegseth wrote.

      Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and its top Democrat, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, said in a joint statement late Friday that the committee "will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances."

      That was followed Saturday with the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, and ranking Democratic member, Washington Rep. Adam Smith, issuing a joint statement saying the panel was committed to "providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense's military operations in the Caribbean."

      "We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question," Rogers and Smith said, referring to U.S. Southern Command.

      Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., asked about the Sept. 2 attack, said Hegseth deserves a chance to present his side.

      "We should get to the truth. I don't think he would be foolish enough to make this decision to say, kill everybody, kill the survivors because that's a clear violation of the law of war," Bacon said. "So, I'm very suspicious that he would've done something like that because it would go against common sense."

      Kaine and Turner appeared on CBS' Face the Nation, and Bacon was on ABC's This Week.
      ©2025 CBC/Radio-Canada. All rights reserved


      World Fact Book (CIA)]
      ]


Some pages may require Adobe Acrobat Reader™


Copyright and Fair Use Information: The contents of this web site is protected by international copyright laws and may not be reproduced in any form or manner whatsoever, if for the purpose of resale or solicitation of a donation. The essays included here, may be reproduced only if: 1)They are not altered in any way; 2) reproductions must be accompanied by this copyright page ; and 3) it is given freely and without charge.
Fair use: The fair use of copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified in above sections, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is fair use the factors to be considered include : (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and; (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market value of the copyrighted work.
Home | About Narrative? |Contact
Copyright © 2025. All Rights Reserved
HAG122125 (1998 -2026)