US Airstrike Survivors Left to Struggle with Severely Damaged Boat for Hours Before Second Attack Kills Them, Video Reveals
Two survivors of a US airstrike on a suspected drug smuggling boat were left clinging to the wreckage for over an hour before being killed in a second attack, according to footage shown to senators in Washington.
The men, shirtless and unarmed, appeared to have no idea what had hit them or that their lives were under threat from US military officials. Despite being unable to flip the damaged vessel back upright, they continued to try and right it in an effort to survive. The video shows the desperate struggle of the two survivors as they face a second deadly attack.
The airstrike on September 2nd sparked growing concern about potential war crimes committed by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials who ordered the attack. Two men were killed immediately, while nine others died in an airburst munition explosion above the vessel.
In the aftermath of the strike, video footage showed three additional munitions being fired at the damaged vessel. The survivors' faces can be seen in the footage as they plead for help before succumbing to their injuries.
The debate surrounding the airstrike has centered on whether US officials have committed war crimes by ordering the attack. Some lawmakers, including a Republican senator, have defended the strike as legal under international law, while others, including Democratic congressman Jim Himes, have expressed outrage at the treatment of the survivors.
Critics argue that the US is operating outside of international law by targeting individuals who are unable to resist or escape from their injuries. "Even if you buy all the legal falsehoods (that this is an 'armed conflict', that drugs are war-sustaining objects), the two shipwrecked were in no way, shape or form engaged in 'active combat activities' (the actual legal test)," said Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University.
The US Department of Defense's Law of War manual explicitly prohibits attacks on individuals who are incapacitated or unable to resist. The Trump administration has argued that the US is at war with drug traffickers, but most legal experts reject this rationale.
As the debate continues, questions remain about the transparency and accountability of US military operations in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. "The American people should get as much transparency and information here to judge what's being done in their name as possible," said Marcus Stanley, director of studies at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
With the death toll now at 87, the US military has carried out 22 attacks on boats in the region since August. The most recent strike occurred on Thursday, killing four men who were suspected of carrying illicit narcotics.
Two survivors of a US airstrike on a suspected drug smuggling boat were left clinging to the wreckage for over an hour before being killed in a second attack, according to footage shown to senators in Washington.
The men, shirtless and unarmed, appeared to have no idea what had hit them or that their lives were under threat from US military officials. Despite being unable to flip the damaged vessel back upright, they continued to try and right it in an effort to survive. The video shows the desperate struggle of the two survivors as they face a second deadly attack.
The airstrike on September 2nd sparked growing concern about potential war crimes committed by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials who ordered the attack. Two men were killed immediately, while nine others died in an airburst munition explosion above the vessel.
In the aftermath of the strike, video footage showed three additional munitions being fired at the damaged vessel. The survivors' faces can be seen in the footage as they plead for help before succumbing to their injuries.
The debate surrounding the airstrike has centered on whether US officials have committed war crimes by ordering the attack. Some lawmakers, including a Republican senator, have defended the strike as legal under international law, while others, including Democratic congressman Jim Himes, have expressed outrage at the treatment of the survivors.
Critics argue that the US is operating outside of international law by targeting individuals who are unable to resist or escape from their injuries. "Even if you buy all the legal falsehoods (that this is an 'armed conflict', that drugs are war-sustaining objects), the two shipwrecked were in no way, shape or form engaged in 'active combat activities' (the actual legal test)," said Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University.
The US Department of Defense's Law of War manual explicitly prohibits attacks on individuals who are incapacitated or unable to resist. The Trump administration has argued that the US is at war with drug traffickers, but most legal experts reject this rationale.
As the debate continues, questions remain about the transparency and accountability of US military operations in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. "The American people should get as much transparency and information here to judge what's being done in their name as possible," said Marcus Stanley, director of studies at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
With the death toll now at 87, the US military has carried out 22 attacks on boats in the region since August. The most recent strike occurred on Thursday, killing four men who were suspected of carrying illicit narcotics.
!! i cant believe those guys were left to die like that after the first airstrike 
they mustve been so scared and in pain 
and then the 2nd attack just comes outta nowhere and kills them too 
it's like they didnt even deserve a chance to get help or anything 
i need more info on what happened tho, like how did the us military know that boat was carrying drugs and why didnt they try to save those guys instead of attacking them 
not to mention the lives of innocent ppl 
we should be able to trust our military to protect us, not kill us 
This whole thing is just a reminder that war and violence have human consequences... You can't just reduce complex issues to "legalities" or politics 
like why do ppl have to go thru so much trauma before they get help? 
. Anyway, back to this airstrike thing - it's seriously messed up that the US military was willing to kill two survivors who were already hurt and unable to fight back. I mean, come on, can't you see the humanity in that? 
The fact that they just kept trying to right their boat like there was a manual override or something is just heartbreaking. And what really gets my goat is how some lawmakers are just downplaying this as " legal" under international law... no, it's not. It's a war crime in every sense of the word. 
We need more transparency and accountability from our military operations, period. Can we please just have a civil conversation about this without all the finger-pointing and defensiveness? 
... Ugh, this whole thing is just so messed up! The fact that they're trying to justify the attack as legal under international law is like, totally not good enough 
. The US military needs to be more transparent about their operations and hold themselves accountable for their actions 
... but at the same time, I don't want them to just start following some arbitrary set of rules without questioning what's truly right or wrong 
. You're just sitting there trying to survive after a massive airstrike and then BAM! More missiles raining down on you 
. I mean, what would you do in their shoes? Try and swim away from a sinking boat while being attacked by the military 
. Transparency is key here, especially when it comes to something as serious as war crimes 
this whole situation stinks to high heaven. how many more lives need to be lost before we take a stand against these senseless attacks? 
they didn't deserve to go through all that pain and suffering. and honestly, i think it's really concerning how many attacks have been carried out in this region already 
what if the people making those decisions had some friends or family members on that boat? would they be acting any differently 
.