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erronis

(22,487 posts)
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 05:40 PM Dec 4

Top Military Commander Showed Lawmakers Boat Strike Video--and It's Bad

Source: The New Republic

Lawmakers were shocked and appalled Thursday after they were shown video footage of the September 2 double tap that killed two survivors of an airstrike in the Caribbean.

Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley met behind closed doors with members of the House and Senate in an attempt to defend the Trump administration’s decision to slaughter two individuals who clung to the wreckage of their boat. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine was also in attendance at the meeting.

Ahead of the meeting, military attorneys claimed that there could be a legitimate explanation for the second strike if Bradley was able to prove the survivors posed a credible threat to U.S. military personnel. But the footage supposedly left no room for doubt that that was not the case.

“What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service,” Representative Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN. “You have two individuals [in] clear distress, without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel, [who] were killed by the United States.”

Read more: https://newrepublic.com/post/203962/lawmakers-boat-strike-video-pete-hegseth-defense

28 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Top Military Commander Showed Lawmakers Boat Strike Video--and It's Bad (Original Post) erronis Dec 4 OP
Depraved indifference to human life is a common trait among republicans Blues Heron Dec 4 #1
Murdered UpInArms Dec 4 #2
Seems like that includes the esteemed Admiral Bradley Deuxcents Dec 4 #3
The esteemed admiral hooked his wagon to a crooked star UpInArms Dec 4 #6
Yes flashman13 Dec 4 #14
Remember that Hegseth ranted about why he wanted the Defense Department named changed tblue37 Dec 5 #26
If this is an example of Hegseth's warrior ethos and American heroes, I want my tax dollars back. They murdered sinkingfeeling Dec 4 #4
Absolutely Codifer Dec 4 #21
Can Trump issue pardons for... Shipwack Dec 4 #24
Where is Lindsay Graham on this? Katinfl Dec 4 #5
Jeez, good question! Where is that sanctimonious little twit? Hiding under a rock? FadedMullet Dec 5 #28
Ahh yes, it turns out the fog of war is just smoke and mirrors. truthisfreedom Dec 4 #7
What war? democrank Dec 5 #27
Murder in cold blood. Wounded fishermen clinging to wreckage. Irish_Dem Dec 4 #8
every single boat strike in this campaign is a similar war crime mike_c Dec 4 #9
We must not lose sight of this fact. NH Ethylene Dec 4 #16
At least 80 now. tblue37 Dec 5 #25
The Hegseth Warrior Ethos delisen Dec 4 #10
Too bad you lied about it Bradley. Buddyzbuddy Dec 4 #11
I hear The Hague is nice this time of year Seinan Sensei Dec 4 #20
Dead men tell no tales... California Kid Dec 4 #12
"You have two individuals [in] clear distress, without any means of locomotion... BidenRocks Dec 4 #13
USA, collecting world hatred faster than anyone had ever before even imagined. Just wait. Shit will happen. Thanks trump twodogsbarking Dec 4 #15
Every time I heard they "posed a credible threat to U.S. military personnel." KS Toronado Dec 4 #17
Not a great look, America. RedWhiteBlueIsRacist Dec 4 #18
Pro-life my fat ass. n/t SpankMe Dec 4 #19
Is the video classified? Bayard Dec 4 #22
They like the violence and the bang-bang. But not televised. erronis Dec 4 #23

UpInArms

(53,960 posts)
2. Murdered
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 05:42 PM
Dec 4

Not just “killed”

Murderers did this

From the top on down … and it starts at the top

tblue37

(68,116 posts)
26. Remember that Hegseth ranted about why he wanted the Defense Department named changed
Fri Dec 5, 2025, 03:09 AM
Dec 5

to Department of War:

. Pete Hegseth Promises the U.S. Military Will Now Embrace ‘Maximum Lethality, Not Tepid Legality’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the U.S. military will now embrace “maximum lethality, not tepid legality,” as President Donald Trump signed an executive order reverting the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War.

“This name change is not just about renaming,” said Hegseth in front of reporters at the Oval Office, but rather “restoring the warrior ethos.” Notably, the Department of War was the official name for the DOD from 1789 to 1947.

“We are gonna go on offense, not just on defense,” Hegseth continued. “Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We’re gonna raise up warriors, not just defenders."

https://www.mediaite.com/politics/pete-hegseth-promises-the-u-s-military-will-now-embrace-maximum-lethality-not-tepid-legality/

sinkingfeeling

(57,064 posts)
4. If this is an example of Hegseth's warrior ethos and American heroes, I want my tax dollars back. They murdered
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 06:03 PM
Dec 4

those guys.

Codifer

(1,141 posts)
21. Absolutely
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 08:44 PM
Dec 4

Keep Hogsbreath's "Warrior Ethos" in video games where it freaking belongs.

Put Hogsbreath in prison.... hell, recall him to active duty and court martial his sorry behind.

Shipwack

(2,974 posts)
24. Can Trump issue pardons for...
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 10:15 PM
Dec 4

UCMJ (military law) violations?

Hopefully not.

Hegseth, this admiral, and the commander in the scene all need to be court martialed as a warning. Call them back to active duty if necessary.

I’m ambivalent about any junior enlisted involved, though. I could argue either way if they should be punished. Perhaps the can be given leniency in return for testimony against their superiors. That would tank any future military career for them, though.

Katinfl

(607 posts)
5. Where is Lindsay Graham on this?
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 06:09 PM
Dec 4

Isn’t he a military judge or something? Perhaps JAG? Rand Paul is the only republican that makes any sense of the situation. Today Thom Tillis has some questions. Tom Cotton is in the bag of course.

Irish_Dem

(79,381 posts)
8. Murder in cold blood. Wounded fishermen clinging to wreckage.
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 06:32 PM
Dec 4

No chance of survival, no help, no rescue on the way.
But that was not good enough for the USA.
We had to murder them on the spot.

mike_c

(36,888 posts)
9. every single boat strike in this campaign is a similar war crime
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 06:35 PM
Dec 4

There is zero evidence that those boats are any threat to the U.S. No evidence that they are anything other than fishing boats, transportation between ports, etc. Also zero evidence that any of the boats carried drugs or had any hostile intent toward the U.S. It's all straight up murder. Not just two people murdered, but dozens. Until now I thought the war against Iraq was one of the most criminal conflicts we've ever engaged in. This is worse, at least at this stage.

NH Ethylene

(31,278 posts)
16. We must not lose sight of this fact.
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 08:05 PM
Dec 4

ALL of them were murdered.

Even if they WERE drug smugglers (which I strongly doubt), it's a crime and it's not punishable by death. It's not an act of war or violence against the US. Those boats were not headed on a journey to this country.

It's becoming evident that this is a build up to a war to take over Venezuela.

delisen

(7,194 posts)
10. The Hegseth Warrior Ethos
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 06:49 PM
Dec 4

I can shoot and kill someone in a fishing boat and get away with it said Pete Hegseth, channeling his boss, whose Fifth Avenue fantasies had been reported to us earlier.

Buddyzbuddy

(2,049 posts)
11. Too bad you lied about it Bradley.
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 06:52 PM
Dec 4

Do not pass go, do not not collect Admirals pension, go straight to the brig.

You could've actually done something right by honestly testifying, instead you lost your credibility trying to cover your collective asses.

BidenRocks

(2,697 posts)
13. "You have two individuals [in] clear distress, without any means of locomotion...
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 07:28 PM
Dec 4

Could that mean the two were missing limbs?
It's a given that the engines sank.

"Clear Distress". How injured were they from the initial illegal strike that it was "Clear"?

Get a rope!

twodogsbarking

(17,484 posts)
15. USA, collecting world hatred faster than anyone had ever before even imagined. Just wait. Shit will happen. Thanks trump
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 07:50 PM
Dec 4

KS Toronado

(22,915 posts)
17. Every time I heard they "posed a credible threat to U.S. military personnel."
Thu Dec 4, 2025, 08:08 PM
Dec 4

on the news, I thought only a really stupid MAGAt would believe that bullshit.

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