Amid controversy over a deadly September strike on a suspected drug boat, the U.S. military has carried out another deadly strike.
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This morning, new pressure on the Pentagon and a new U.S. strike, raising even more questions
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Admiral Mitch Bradley, the Navy officer who oversaw the operation, spent Thursday behind closed doors with key lawmakers
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And just hours later, the U.S. military launched another strike. Southern Command confirms late Thursday that U.S. forces carried out a lethal strike on a suspected drug boat
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This time in the eastern Pacific, you see it right there, killing four men on board
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A 21-second video posted online shows the moment missiles hit the vessel
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The military says the boat was operated by a designated terrorist organization
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and was carrying illegal narcotics along a known drug trafficking route. That strike landed the same day Bradley and Joint Chiefs Chair General Dan Cain
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showed members the unedited video of the controversial September 2nd attack, including the follow-up strike that killed two survivors
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Lawmakers came away with vastly different interpretations and opinions. Republicans say footage of the incident shows a lawful operation
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Democrats say it raises new, grave questions about whether the U.S. killed men who were no longer a threat
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Bradley also told lawmakers there was no order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to kill them all
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directly rejecting public reporting about the operation Here Republican Senator Tom Cotton I want to thank Admiral Bradley and General Cain for coming to brief about the strikes on September 2nd
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which were righteous strikes. These are narco-terrorists who are trafficking drugs that are destined for the United States
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to kill thousands of Arkansans and millions of Americans. But top Democrats who saw the same video describe it as deeply troubling and said it needs to be released to the public
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But what I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service
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You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion with a destroyed vessel who are killed by the United States
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The September 2nd strike was the first in what's now a months-long military campaign against what the White House calls narco-terrorists
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22 strikes, more than 87 people killed, including four in Thursday's operation
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And this morning, Congress is demanding answers. What were the rules of engagement? Who gave the orders? And were the survivors ever a legitimate target
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Several Democrats are calling for Hegseth to testify, for the full video to be released
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and for the Pentagon to provide the legal rationale behind the mission
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requests the administration has so far denied
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