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Good morning to our reporting of US politics. The Biden administration has asserted that a senior US Navy officer directed a second round of strikes on an suspected Venezuelan drug vessel on September 2, not Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these targeted attacks. Vice Admiral Bradley worked completely within his jurisdiction and the rules of engagement overseeing the engagement to ensure the ship was destroyed and the risk to the US was eradicated.

Amid claims that the Pentagon leader had directed a atrocity, administration press secretary Leavitt declared that Hegseth approved the strikes but did not give an order to “kill everybody”.

Upon questioning by a correspondent to justify how the strike was not an instance of a war crime, Leavitt again supported the strike, stating it was “conducted in international waters and in compliance with the international humanitarian law”.

Primary Officer to Brief Congress

US Navy vice admiral Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley, who was head of JSOC at the time of the strike, will deliver a secret briefing to lawmakers on this Thursday.

Hegseth pledged his endorsement for Bradley in a social media post which presented the decision as one arrived at by the officer, not him.

“To be absolutely unambiguous: Vice Admiral Mitch Bradley is an national hero, a consummate professional, and has my full support. I back him and the battlefield judgments he has made – on the September 2nd operation and all others since. America is blessed to have such people safeguarding us.”

Legislative Inquiries Launched

Each of the Senate and lower chamber military oversight panel chairpersons have declared probes into the allegations, with limited particulars currently made public on who or which cargo was on board the boat.

Since September, US air attacks have targeted purported narcotics-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, resulting in the deaths of at least 83 persons.

The incumbent administration has provided no concrete proof to back up the claims behind its fatal conduct, and many experts have doubted the legality of the missions.

Expanded Regional Strains

Meanwhile, the disclosure that the twin-island nation has authorized the setup of a US military surveillance radar has fueled concerns that the Caribbean could be drawn into the intensifying standoff between the US and Venezuela.

In spite of an seeming readiness to keep dialogue open, strains between the US and Venezuela remain high as US operations against suspected smuggling craft in the Caribbean have been under way for months.

The state of affairs continues to be developing, with further reports and legislative review likely in the coming days.