Hegseth defends follow-up strike in Caribbean Sea

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday cited the “fog of war” in defending a followup strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean Sea in early September.

- BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS Getty Images DEFENSE Secretary Pete Hegseth cited the "fog of war" in explaining a US, follow-up strike on a boat.

During a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Hegseth said he did not see any survivors in the water, saying the vessel “exploded in fire, smoke, you can’t see anything....'This is called the fog of war.”

Hegseth also said he “didn't stick around” for the remainder of the Sept. 2 mission after the initial strike and the admiral in charge “made the right call” in ordering the second hit, which he “had complete authority to do.”

Lawmakers have opened investigations after a Washington Post report that Hegseth issued a verbal order to “kill everybody” on the boat, the first vessel hit in the Trump administration's counter-drug campaign in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean that has grown to more than 20 known strikes and more than 80 dead.