Sen. Tim Kaine says reported second strike on alleged drug boat "rises to the level of a war crime if it's true" [View all]

Source: CBS News

November 30, 2025 / 11:44 AM EST / CBS News


Washington — Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said Sunday that a reported U.S. follow-on strike on an alleged drug boat earlier this year "rises to the level of a war crime if it's true." "If that reporting is true, it's a clear violation of the DoD's own laws of war, as well as international laws about the way you treat people who are in that circumstance," Kaine said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."

The Washington Post reported Friday that in the U.S.' first strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean in September, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a verbal order to leave no survivors. A follow-on strike was ordered to comply with the instructions, killing two survivors in the water, the Post reported. Hegseth called the reporting "fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory," claiming the operations in the Caribbean are "lawful under both U.S. and international law."

CBS News has not independently confirmed the Washington Post's reporting.

Targeting civilians or members of the armed forces who are wounded is prohibited under the Geneva Conventions, which also require the wounded to be "collected and cared for." A group of former military lawyers outlined in an assessment Saturday that the reported second strike would be a violation of international or domestic law. And the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees pledged to investigate the reported follow-on strike.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuela-strike-alleged-drug-boat-hegseth-tim-kaine-face-the-nation/