Tom Cotton Says Double-Tap Strike Survivors Needed to Die After ‘Trying to Flip’ Their Boat Back Over

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters on Thursday that the double-tap strike on survivors of an alleged drug smuggling boat in early September was absolutely justified as they were moving to return to their damaged vessel.

Cotton began by thanking Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley and General Dan Cain, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “for coming to brief about the strikes on September 2nd, which were righteous strikes.”

“These are narco-terrorists who are trafficking drugs that are destined for the United States to kill thousands of our Kansans and millions of Americans. The first strike, the second strike, and the third and the fourth strike on September 2nd were entirely lawful and needful, and they were exactly what we’d expect our military commanders to do,” Cotton said after the briefing.

Admiral Bradley, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, gave the order for the second strike under the authorization of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Both Hegseth and Bradley have come under intense scrutiny over their role in the operation, which critics are calling a war crime.

“What exactly did you see in terms of the video of the second strike? Were there survivors?” a reporter asked Cotton on Capitol Hill.

“I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs, bound for the United States, back over so they could stay in the fight and potentially, given all the context we heard of other narco-terrorist boats in the area, coming to their aid to recover their cargo and recover those narco-terrorists,” Cotton said, adding:

And just like you would blow up a boat off of the Somali coast or the Yemeni coast and you’d come back and strike it again if it still had terrorists and it still had explosives or missiles, Admiral Bradley, Secretary Hegseth did exactly what we’d expect him to do.

“Congressman Himes said it’s one of the most disturbing things he’s seen in his career. Did that match up with what you saw?” asked another reporter.

“No, I didn’t see anything disturbing about it. What’s disturbing to me is that millions of Americans have died from drugs being run to America by these cartels. What’s gratifying to me is that the president has made the decision finally, after decades of letting it happen, that we’re going to take the battle to them. And we’re going to continue to strike these boats until cartels learn their lesson that their drugs are no longer coming to America,” Cotton replied.

“Did a military JAG say that the second and follow-on strikes were all lawful?” pushed another reporter.

“Yes. Look, this is not like a firefight in some cave in Afghanistan that had three people. This was witnessed by literally hundreds of uniformed and civilian personnel at the Pentagon, at Fort Bragg, at other installations. Dozens of them were lawyers. Everybody was watching, everybody had seen the intelligence and the legal basis leading up to these strikes. Everyone was present during it, and that continues to be the case,” Cotton replied, adding:

There’s been no change in the guidance or the order that the Secretary has given to our troops. And in subsequent strikes, there is an example where survivors actually were shipwrecked and distressed and not trying to continue on their mission, and they were treated as they should be as noncombatants. They were picked up by U.S. forces—just an example of how, of course, our military always obeys the laws of war. Our military also acts with an appropriate lawful authority to target these narco-terrorists.

“But Congressman Himes also said that according to what he saw in that video, the two who survived trying to get back on the boat, there was no way they could have conducted further operations or anything like that,” pushed the reporter.

“Jim may disagree with the entire operation. He may be okay with drug boats running through America, or at least thinking that it’s an effective tactic to interdict them. I just disagree with that,” Cotton replied, adding:

These are narco-terrorist foreign-designated terrorist organizations who are bringing drugs to our shores that have killed millions of Americans and thousands of Arkansans. If you think these strikes are justified and righteous, as I do, and I want them to continue, then of course the second strike, when you have two survivors who are trying to flip their boat back over and continue on their mission, remain in the battle—unlike a subsequent strike in which there was no such indication and they were what’s called distressed or shipwrecked under the laws of the sea and the law of armed conflict, and our military went out and picked them up.

Watch the clip above via C-SPAN.