A top U.S. admiral told Congress this week that he never received a “kill them all” command from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the now-infamous Caribbean boat strike, and that should settle the most outrageous media headlines — but don’t expect the left-leaning press to let it go quietly. Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley’s testimony undercuts the narrative that our leaders secretly ordered an illegal massacre, even as Democrats and cable networks scramble to inflame outrage.
The episode centers on a Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel that triggered a second engagement in which two survivors were killed, part of a wider campaign that U.S. officials say has targeted dozens of traffickers since September. This is not some abstract theory; the operation unfolded in dangerous waters where cartels operate like paramilitary organizations, and commanders on the scene reported the tactical realities that shaped their decisions.
Republican lawmakers who reviewed the classified footage came away with a different impression than many Democrats, with Sen. Tom Cotton saying the images showed survivors attempting to right their boat and continue the mission — proof to him that the threat had not ended after the first strike. Conservatives who have spent years watching lax enforcement at the border see this as a continuation of the hard-nosed approach Washington long refused to take against transnational criminals.
That reality check hasn’t stopped Democrats, activists, and many in the mainstream media from calling for dramatic investigations and even invoking the language of war crimes, demands rooted more in politics than in the messy facts of maritime interdiction. Legal experts and human rights groups will predictably cast these operations in the worst possible light until the full evidence is released, but Americans deserve leadership that protects the homeland rather than a reflexive retreat into virtue-signaling.
Secretary Hegseth and administration defenders have been clear: these strikes are designed to disrupt lethal drug shipments and the violent cartels that profit from them, treating traffickers as the armed enemy they effectively are. That policy may make opponents uncomfortable, but the notion that hard choices at sea are somehow un-American ignores the real victims here — the families of Americans killed by cartel poison and violence.
We should demand transparency — full video, legal memos, and a clear chain of command — but transparency must not become an invitation to weaponize the truth against our own military professionals. Congress has every right to oversee and probe, and Republicans should lead those efforts vigorously while resisting the media’s rush to judgment that handicaps commanders and encourages our enemies.
The proper conservative response is twofold: stand with the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to stop cartels from slaughtering Americans, and insist on accountability where wrongdoing occurred. If evidence of misconduct exists, it should be addressed swiftly; if not, those who misled the public and stoked outrage should be the ones called to account.
