WASHINGTON, DC – Democratic legislators in the US Congress have urged Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to provide all members of Congress and the public with the full, unedited video of the September 2 strikes on a suspected drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth“As some of the few members of Congress who have seen the complete, unedited video of the strikes on September 2 against a maritime vessel, we write to stress our grave concerns surrounding their circumstances. As we have expressed directly to you, Secretary Rubio, General Caine, and Admiral Bradley, it is critical that you provide full transparency to Congress and to the American people,” they wrote.
“We, therefore, reiterate our request that you make the complete, unedited, full resolution video of the September 2 strikes available to all Members of the House and Senate before Congress completes its legislative session this month,” they added. “We also urge you to expedite the public release of the video, taking into account appropriate precautions to protect sources and methods, so that the American people can judge for themselves the legality and necessity of their government engaging in such activities that potentially put our men and women in uniform at risk.”
On Friday, the United States Navy Admiral overseeing US forces in Latin America and Caribbean retired, two years ahead of schedule.
The Miami-based US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which overseas military operations in the region, said Admiral Alvin Holsey relinquished duties as commander to Air Force Lieutenant General Evan L. Pettus at the command’s headquarters.
Holsey reportedly was in disagreement with the Trump administration and its military operations in the Caribbean Sea.
Caribbean-American American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke has condemned what she described as the Trump administration’s “unauthorized” military strikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela and in the Caribbean Sea.
“Since September, the Trump administration has carried out a series of unauthorized military strikes off the coast of Venezuela, across the Caribbean, and the Eastern Pacific,” Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC). “These operations have resulted in more than 80 deaths across 20 separate strikes—actions undertaken without congressional authorization, in clear violation of our Constitution.
relationships with our Caribbean and Venezuelan neighbors.”
The US military reportedly struck the alleged drug-trafficking boat on September 2– twice to kill the 11 suspects on board and an additional two times to sink the boat.
Last week Hegseth said Admiral Frank Bradley, the commander of US Special Operations Command, “made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat.
“He sunk the boat, sunk the boat and eliminated the threat,” Hegseth said. “And it was the right call. We have his back.”
