Washington [US], December 2 (ANI): President Donald Trump held a high-level Oval Office meeting to review next steps on Venezuela as questions mounted over recent US military strikes on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean, CNN sources said.
Attendees reportedly included key national security officials: War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. The meeting followed an escalation of US pressure on Venezuela, including strikes on drug boats and a major military deployment in the Caribbean under “Operation Southern Spear.” The Pentagon has positioned more than a dozen warships and about 15,000 troops in the region. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump met regularly with his security team on global matters to help ensure peace.
Scrutiny intensified after reports that strikes on alleged drug vessels resulted in more than 80 deaths and allegations that a second strike targeted survivors in the water. Lawmakers from both parties sought clarity on those reports. Independent Senator Angus King of Maine told CNN that if a second strike was ordered to kill survivors, “that’s a stone-cold war crime. It’s also murder.”
Leavitt identified Adm. Frank M. “Mitch” Bradley, head of US Special Operations Command, as the official who ordered the follow-up strike, saying he acted “well within his authority.” She said Hegseth authorised Bradley on September 2 to carry out the kinetic action to eliminate a threat to the United States. Leavitt asserted the strike was conducted in self-defence, in international waters, and in compliance with the law of armed conflict.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, said he personally “wouldn’t have wanted” a second strike and questioned whether such an order had been issued, adding that Hegseth had said he did not want the strike and was unaware of details. Leavitt said Hegseth had briefed concerned lawmakers and that Congress had received 13 bipartisan briefings on the Venezuelan operations, along with access to classified legal opinions and other documents.
Sources told CNN the US military carried out a follow-up strike on a suspected drug vessel in the Caribbean on September 2 after an initial attack did not kill everyone on board. That September strike was the first in what became a regular series of attacks on alleged drug boats. (ANI)
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