Lawmakers from both parties said on Sunday they support congressional reviews of US military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of a September 2 attack.
The lawmakers said they did not know whether last week’s Washington Post report was true – and some Republicans were sceptical – but they said attacking survivors of an initial missile strike poses serious legal concerns.
“This rises to the level of a war crime if it’s true,” said Democratic Senator Tim Kaine.
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Republican congressman Mike Turner, when asked about a follow-up strike aimed at people no longer able to fight, said Congress does not have information that the incident happened. He noted that leaders of the Armed Services Committee in both the House and Senate have opened investigations.
“Obviously, if that occurred, that would be very serious and I agree that that would be an illegal act,” Turner said.
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Turner said there are concerns in Congress about the attacks on vessels that the Trump administration says are transporting drugs but the allegations regarding the September 2 attack “is completely outside anything that has been discussed with Congress and there is an ongoing investigation”.
The comments from lawmakers during news programme appearances come as the administration escalates a campaign to combat drug trafficking into the US. On Saturday, Republican President Donald Trump said the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered as “closed in its entirety”, an assertion that raised more questions about the US pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.