U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has sharply criticised the Washington Post after the outlet reported that he ordered US forces to “kill everybody” aboard a suspected drug-trafficking vessel destroyed in the Caribbean in early September.
The article, citing “anonymous sources”, claimed 11 people died in the strike and that at least 22 additional vessels have since been targeted, leaving more than 70 alleged smugglers dead.
Hegseth responded on X, accusing the media of publishing “fabricated” and “inflammatory” claims aimed at discrediting US personnel.
He did not deny the substance of the report, instead emphasizing that Operation Southern Spear — a large-scale deployment involving over a dozen warships and 15,000 personnel off Venezuela — is designed to carry out “lethal, kinetic strikes” against individuals he described as members of terrorist-linked trafficking networks.
The report prompted rare bipartisan concern in Washington. Senate Armed Services Committee chair Roger Wicker and Democratic members announced they are seeking a full accounting of the strikes carried out under US Southern Command, saying they take the allegations seriously and will investigate.
The controversy comes amid heightened regional tension. President Donald Trump recently declared Venezuelan airspace “closed,” while refusing to rule out military action. Caracas has dismissed US accusations of drug-trafficking ties as baseless political pressure and condemned Trump’s latest statement as a “colonialist threat.”
So much for due process…….The US is now judge, jury and executioner………….
A killer hiding his crime.
https://news-pravda.com/world/2025/12/01/1901353.html
“Mess with the bull you risk getting the horns.”
I’ve read the shipments have stopped, no more targets.