Admiral says there was no ‘kill them all’ order in boat attack
By Stephen Groves, The Associated Press and Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press
Dec 4, 2025, 02:41 PM
U.S. Navy Adm. Frank M. Bradley, accompanied by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, right, walks to a meeting with senators on Capitol Hill, Dec. 4, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
A Navy admiral told lawmakers Thursday that there was no “kill them all” order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth but grave questions and concerns remain as Congress scrutinizes an attack that killed two survivors of an initial strike on an alleged drug boat in international waters near Venezuela.
Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley “was very clear that he was given no such order, to give no quarter or to kill them all,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, as he exited a classified briefing.
While Cotton, R-Ark., defended the attack, Democrats who were also briefed and saw video of the survivors being killed questioned the Trump administration’s rationale and said the incident was deeply concerning.
“The order was basically: Destroy the drugs, kill the 11 people on the boat,” said Washington Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. Smith, who is demanding further investigation, said the survivors were “basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2025/12/04/admiral-says-there-was-no-kill-them-all-order-in-boat-attack/
