House Speaker Mike Johnson, after viewing classified video of the U.S. military’s controversial Sept. 2 boat strikes and receiving a briefing from the mission commander, said Thursday that two survivors seen after an initial strike were “able-bodied” and that the follow-on attack was “entirely appropriate.”
Johnson watched the video of the follow-on strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat and was briefed by Adm. Frank Bradley. He told reporters he is satisfied with the intelligence and the legal basis for the operation, saying the strikes were carried out in line with law and established protocol.
Only a small group of congressional leaders — the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate armed services and intelligence committees — have been shown the video. Lawmakers who saw it agree that two men survived the first strike and were clinging to wreckage and waving, but they differ on the survivors’ condition and intent after the initial attack.
Some Democrats and legal experts contend a second strike that killed shipwrecked survivors could amount to a war crime, arguing the waving might have been a plea for help or a signal to deter further strikes. Republicans who reviewed the footage say the men appeared uninjured and were signaling another nearby drug vessel to recover the narcotics and continue trafficking, which would make them lawful targets.
Adm. Bradley, after consulting a military lawyer who was present during the operation, authorized a follow-on strike that killed the two men.
Johnson rejected descriptions of the men as helpless, saying, “They were able-bodied, they were not injured, and they were attempting to recover the contents of the boat, which was full of narcotics.” He added, “The individuals on that vessel were not helpless castaways. They were drug runners on a capsized drug boat, and by all indications, attempting to recover it so they could continue pushing drugs to kill Americans.”
Johnson said the U.S. had “exquisite intelligence” showing another vessel was nearby and moving toward the site. He said the men seemed to be waving to indicate that vessel’s approach so they could resume their alleged mission.
Describing the operation as lawful and properly handled, Johnson called Bradley “one of the most honorable men serving in the U.S. military” and said legal counsel had been consulted “at every step of this operation,” including before the secondary strikes. “I’m fully confident that it was done the right way,” he said.