Lawmakers see video of second strike on boat survivors, say admiral testified there was no kill order

"US Lawmakers See Graphic Footage of Venezuelan Boat Attack, Adm. Bradley Testifies No Kill Order"

In a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill, lawmakers were shown graphic footage of the September 2 second strike on a Venezuelan boat, which has sparked widespread concern over the killing of two survivors. According to multiple lawmakers, Navy Admiral Frank "Mitch" Bradley, head of Special Operations Command, testified that he had not been ordered to leave no survivors, contradicting previous reports.

GOP Senator Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Jim Himes, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, both stated that Bradley told them there was no order to kill everyone on board. However, they also acknowledged that the administration has designated drug cartels as terrorist organizations and US troops are not in harm's way.

Cotton refuted Himes' characterization of the video, saying he "didn't see anything disturbing about it." Cotton claimed that the four strikes on September 2 were "entirely lawful and needful" and what would be expected from military commanders.

Lawmakers expressed concern over the lack of clear justification for the operation and the fact that the administration is conducting strikes without authorization from Congress. Sen. Chris Coons stated that while some aspects of the briefing were reassuring, others raised more policy questions than ever.

The strike has sparked bipartisan scrutiny from lawmakers and vows to investigate. The Pentagon's campaign against alleged drug traffickers in South America has grown to over 20 strikes, resulting in the deaths of more than 80 people.

can't believe what I'm reading just watched a vid of that Venezuelan boat attack... if there was no kill order from the US then why are they still trying to downplay it? seems like an easy way out for the administration... i mean, even Tom Cotton is saying he didn't see anything disturbing about the video but like how can you not see the harm in killing two people on a boat? anyway, this whole thing is just super unsettling... doesn't help that we don't know what's really going on with these strikes. more info needs to come out...

I'm so surprised that Sen. Chris Coons is actually thinking about policy questions . I mean, it's not like this is a super obvious thing to consider or anything. The fact that we're questioning the administration's actions on South America is kinda... basic? I guess it's good that Rep. Jim Himes called out the discrepancy between Bradley's testimony and previous reports, though . It's also pretty cool that GOP Senator Tom Cotton is still trying to spin this as "lawful" like that makes everything okay. Newsflash, dude: just because it's the law doesn't mean it's right . And can we talk about how over 80 people have died in these strikes? That's wild . We need to get some answers on this ASAP!

This is wild dude. Like, how can they just claim there was no order to kill everyone? I mean, I get it, we're at war and stuff, but can't we at least have some clarity on what's going on? It's like, are these hits just a bunch of guesswork or what? And btw, why did they show the video in the first place if there wasn't an order to kill everyone? It seems kinda messed up that the Pentagon is just doing whatever they want without Congressional approval...

This whole thing is giving me the heebie-jeevies... I mean, I've lived through some crazy times in my life, but this one's got me scratching my head. What's the deal with these strikes on Venezuelan boats? Are we just gonna sit back and let the administration do whatever they want? I remember when I was younger, we used to have to wait for Congress to approve wars before we went in. Now it seems like they're just doing their own thing and hoping no one notices...

I'm really concerned about this boat attack on Venezuela. I mean it was a hit that left two survivors dead, which is just messed up. I don't know what's going on with these military ops without Congress' approval, but we need to keep digging into it. This whole 'designating cartels as terrorist organizations' thing sounds super sketchy to me...

I'm totally freaking out about this boat attack footage thing ! I mean, come on, who wants to see graphic images of a massacre? It's crazy that lawmakers are actually getting shown this stuff and trying to figure out what really went down. And now we're hearing that no kill order didn't exist? That's wild . The fact that the admin is just doing these strikes without Congress' approval is giving me major anxiety . I don't think it's a good look for anyone involved. We need to get some answers on this ASAP .

I'm literally shook by this new info . It's wild that there was even a possibility that no one would survive on those attacks . Like, we're talking military operations here, not just some random shooting on the street . And to think that some lawmakers are saying it's all 'lawful and necessary' ... I don't know, man, it just seems like a whole lot of unclear stuff . We need more transparency here . The fact that there have been over 20 strikes already with like 80+ deaths is insane . Can we please get some answers on this?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing ... I mean, what's up with these attacks on Venezuelan boats? It just seems so... aggressive. And now that we're getting some answers from the admiral, it sounds like maybe there was a miscommunication about the "no survivors" order . I'm not sure I trust this whole story yet though. The fact that the administration is basically saying they don't need Congress' approval for these strikes just doesn't sit right with me ... It's like, aren't we supposed to have some kind of oversight here? Or are we just gonna let the military run amok? I'm not looking forward to hearing more about this...

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole situation... Like, can we just have some transparency here? The admin is keeping us in the dark about their military operations and then expects lawmakers to vouch for them? It's like, hello, accountability! And what's with these strikes without congressional approval? Isn't that, like, kinda a big deal? I'm all for taking down drug cartels, but not if it means sacrificing our values on national security. Can we please get to the bottom of this and find out what really happened?

I'm really confused about this whole thing... so US Navy Admiral Bradley says he wasn't told to kill everyone on that Venezuelan boat, but at the same time, lawmakers are still worried because it looks super violent and there's a lot of death involved... like, what's the deal? Shouldn't we know why they did this if it's not even illegal? It seems to me that just 'cause some people might be bad doesn't mean you can go around killing others all willy-nilly.

I'm all over this like a bad rash ... just kidding, sorta. Seriously though, have you seen that footage of the Venezuelan boat attack? It's wild, right? The whole "no kill order" thing is super sketchy. I mean, who wants to leave no survivors in an operation? Sounds like something out of a bad action movie .

But what really gets me is that our lawmakers are still trying to figure out if this was all legit or not. Like, come on guys! We have Congress, we have oversight... how hard can it be to make sure we're not accidentally killing innocent people?

And don't even get me started on the fact that our administration is just blowing off Congress and doing its own thing. That's not how democracy works, folks! Or at least, I think that's how it's supposed to work...