Congressional committees to scrutinize U.S. killing of boat strike survivors

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: Washington Post

Republican-led committees in the Senate and the House say they will amplify their scrutiny of the Pentagon after a Washington Post report revealing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken order to kill all crew members aboard a vessel suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea several weeks ago.

A live drone feed showed two survivors from the original crew of 11 clinging to the wreckage of their boat after the initial missile attack Sept. 2, The Post reported Friday afternoon. The Special Operations commander overseeing the operation then ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s directive, according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation, killing both survivors. Those people, along with five others in the original report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

Late Friday, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed (Rhode Island), the committee’s top Democrat, issued a statement saying that the committee “is aware of recent news reports — and the Department of Defense’s initial response — regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels.” The committee, they said, “has directed inquiries to the Department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”

The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mike D. Rogers (R-Alabama) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Washington), followed suit late Saturday. In a brief joint statement, the pair said they are “taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question.” The committee, they noted, is “committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean.”

Read more: https://wapo.st/48k7g1S

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We shall see.

[Skittles]

1. I didn't get past REPUBLICAN-LED

[ShazzieB]

8. But that's the best part of this story!

I got excited when I read those words, because I think REPUBLICAN-LED COMMITTEES taking the lead on this is extremely encouraging. Since January 20, 2025, when have Republicans in either house of Congress should any signs whatsoever of standing up to the Orange Hellbeast, or even challenging him in any significant way? Never, unless my memory is playing tricks on me. (If I've missed something, somebody please fill me in, but it seems to me they've been passively allowing him to do whatever he damned well pleases, for the most part.)

And don't forget: all congressional committees are chaired by a member of the majority party, which means they're ALL Republican-led right now. That means Republicans pretty much get to decide whether anything gets investigated these days. They could choose to ignore this if they wanted to...and it sounds like they're NOT going to do that for a change! I think that's pretty big news. WaPo agrees, per this quote from the article: "The development is significant. Since President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the Republican majorities in Congress have shown considerable deference to his administration."

I wouldn't assume they're going to half-ass it, either. As I said above, they don't HAVE to open an investigation at all, and announcing that they're going to do that is bound to enrage Schlump. Why arouse his ire unless they mean business?

I think the way the last strike went down (especially making a point of picking off the survivors, wtf?) may have pushed even some Republicans just a little too far. We'll have to wait and see what actually comes of this...but I think it's a hopeful sign of Schlump losing at least a little bit of GOP support in the House and Senate, which sounds like a pretty big deal to me!

[yaesu]

2. We murdered 80+ humans for no reason, this fascist country needs a good spankin. nt

[Initech]

6. No, they had a good reason - they needed to make a slop segment for Fox News.

And Fox News needs ratings!

[Deminpenn]

3. Hegseth has jointed Patel on the list of people

that are bringing bad publicity and edging out Trump for the spotlight. Upstaging Trump is the ultimate mistake. I'd bet they won't last a lot longer in their jobs.

[LudwigPastorius]

4. *Spoiler Alert*

The GOP Congress is going to conclude that Trump & Hegseth’s murderous crimes are all perfectly legal.

[ShazzieB]

9. But why would they open an investigation at all, if they mean to do that?

They don't HAVE to investigate anything. Nobody can make them. Anyone who is assuming the outcome of this is a foregone conclusion is jumping the gun, imo. Why not just ignore it, the way they've ignored all Schlump's other b.s?

I suggest reading the whole article to anyone who hasn't done so already. Like this part:

Late Friday, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jack Reed (Rhode Island), the committee’s top Democrat, issued a statement saying that the committee “is aware of recent news reports — and the Department of Defense’s initial response — regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels.” The committee, they said, “has directed inquiries to the Department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”

The leaders of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mike D. Rogers (R-Alabama) and Rep. Adam Smith (D-Washington), followed suit late Saturday. In a brief joint statement, the pair said they are “taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question.” The committee, they noted, is “committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean.”

Please note: the above statements are coming from both the GOP chair AND the Democratic ranking member of these committees. These sounds like bipartisan efforts to me. I know a lot of people here are prone to automatically expect the very worst from Republicans, always, and not without good reason. But why would Democrats go along with a phony investigation? Don't you think the Democrats on those committees would smell a rat of there was one to be smelled? I do.

I understand being suspicious, but just writing this off before its even gets started is a bridge too far to me. I think we should least keep am open mind and see what happens. If nothing else, I suspect that some of these Republican senators and reps have been hearing from concerned constituents about this crap (not to mention a million other things Schlump has done that no one is happy about).The reps will all be up for reelection next year, and a third of the senators will be as well. I think it's just barely possible that some of them are figuring out that continuing to silently support all of the Orange Hellbeast's decisions may hurt rather than help their chances for reelection.

[thought crime]

5. Ah yes, Republicans on Republican led committees will definitely do their job

And their job is to protect Trump & Hegseth from any interference from the pesky press and Democrats.

[ShazzieB]

10. ALL congressional and Senate committees are Republican-led right now.

First of all, congressional committes are always chaired by a member of the majority party. That's what "Republican-led" means. However, each committee also includes a leader from the other party (called the "ranking member" ) and members from both parties. The announcements from both the House and Senate committees came from both the chair (GOP) and the ranking member (Democratic). In other words, these are bipartisan announcements.

Second, if the goal was just to protect Schlump, why open an investigation at all? No one can make them do that. I'd like to think that even Republicans (at least SOME of them) have a limit as to what they're willing to go along with, and that it's just barely possible that some of them may be reaching it, especially with the midterm ele lions drawing closer every day.

I'm in favor of keeping an open mind and waiting to see what happens. If that makes me a cockeyed optimist, so be it.

[barbtries]

7. republicans doing oversight.

what a novel concept.