BREAKING: Hegseth REFUSES to Release Sept. 2 Boat Strike Video | Says 'We Are Still Reviewing It' - video Dailymotion

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dodges questions about releasing the full video of the U.S. military’s Sept. 2 attack on a Caribbean boat, which killed two survivors clinging to wreckage. Hegseth emphasized ongoing operational security concerns, even as President Trump stated he would release the footage. Lawmakers are debating whether a second strike violated the laws of armed conflict, raising questions about military protocols and accountability.      #HegsethBoatAttack #USMilitaryStrike #CaribbeanAttackVideo #SecondStrikeControversy #HegsethUnderFire #USMilitaryCaribbean #BoatAttackSept2 #TrumpHegsethVideo #MilitaryProtocolDebate #SurvivorsBoatAttack #USDefenseNews #HegsethSkirtsQuestions #MilitaryOperationsCaribbean #WarCrimeDebate #PentagonUnderPressure  ~HT.318~

Transcript

00:00Ensuring we meet the criteria, the decision's not at my level anymore, and then we take the strike.

00:05Now, after Admiral Bradley's meetings on Capitol Hill with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,

00:10President Trump said he would have no problem if the full video of the strike is released.

00:16When can we see that video? When will you release it?

00:18We're reviewing it right now to make sure sources, methods, I mean, it's an ongoing operation, TTPs.

00:25We've got operators out there doing this right now, so whatever we were to decide to release,

00:28we'd have to be very responsible about, so we're reviewing that right now.

00:31Can you take us back to the September 2nd strike off the coast of Venezuela,

00:37the very first one when combat operations began in the Caribbean,

00:41and walk us through the timeline and your role in it from mission planning, the operation, and the follow-on strikes.

00:49Absolutely. So it took us a couple of weeks, almost a month, to develop,

00:54and I can't get into sources and methods and all of those things for obvious reasons,

00:57but you have to develop the intel picture and get an understanding of what you're looking at.

01:01And a lot of our assets, as I talked about in the speech, had been pointing, you know,

01:0410,000 miles around at the other side of the world for a very long time.

01:09So once we got to the point where a strike was imminent,

01:11I had taken the decision responsibility up to my level.

01:16Not many military decisions should be made by the Secretary of War.

01:19I believe in deferring those decisions to local commanders as much as possible,

01:24but because of the strategic implications of the first few strikes, I wanted to hold that decision at my level.

01:29And the briefing that I received before that strike was extensive, exhaustive, I would say,

01:35as each one is since.

01:37On the military side, on the civilian side, lawyers, intel analysts, red teaming, every aspect,

01:44what do we know, what do we know about their affiliation, a lot of things I can't share in this room

01:49to give us the kind of confidence that we know where this is coming from,

01:53who's driving it, who's on it, what their intentions are,

01:57all the details you need to strike a designated terrorist organization,

02:01which is an important thing to remember at the top of all this.

02:03The President has designated these as terror organizations,

02:06poisoning and threatening the American people,

02:08making them a target just like Al-Qaeda.

02:11So in that room, in that moment, I can't even remember exactly how long it would have been,

02:1520, 30 minutes of a preview of exactly what's going on,

02:19and my job was to say execute or don't execute.

02:22So I was satisfied with the strike criteria, yes.

02:26Saw the strike itself, which all of you have seen.

02:29There was probably 30 or 40 minutes is what I've been told of dust,

02:33and he was on fire for a long time after that.

02:36I stayed for probably five minutes or so after,

02:39but ultimately, at that point, it was a tactical operation,

02:42and so I moved on to other things.

02:43I shouldn't be fighting tactics as the Secretary of War,

02:46so I moved on to other things.

02:47Later on, a couple hours later, I was told,

02:50hey, there had to be a re-attack

02:51because there were a couple folks that could still be in the fight,

02:56access to radios.

02:57There was a link-up point of another potential boat.

03:00Drugs were still there.

03:01They were actively interacting with them.

03:03Had to take that re-attack.

03:03I said, Roger, sounds good.

03:06From what I understood then and what I understand now,

03:09I fully support that strike.

03:11I would have made the same call myself.

03:14Those who were involved in 20 years of conflict,

03:17Iraq and Afghanistan or elsewhere,

03:18know that re-attacks and re-strikes of combatants

03:20on the battlefield happen often.

03:23In this particular case,

03:24it was well within the authorities of Admiral Bradley,

03:26who's an incredible American, an American hero,

03:29and the 22 or 23 strikes since have followed

03:33the similar protocol of ensuring we meet the criteria.

03:37The decision's not at my level anymore,

03:39and then we take the strike.

03:41Now, after Admiral Bradley's meetings on Capitol Hill

03:44with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs,

03:46President Trump said he would have no problem

03:48if the full video of the strike is released.

03:52When can we see that video?

03:53When will you release it?

03:54We're reviewing it right now

03:55to make sure sources, methods,

03:58I mean, it's an ongoing operation, TTPs.

04:01We've got operators out there doing this right now,

04:03so whatever we were to decide to release,

04:04we'd have to be very responsible about.

04:05So we're reviewing that right now.

04:07Did you at any time say that everybody on board

04:12should be guilty?

04:13Does anybody hear from the Washington Post?

04:15I don't know where you get your sources,

04:17but they suck.

04:19Of course not.

04:20Anybody that's been in the situation room

04:22or been in the war room there,

04:25the secretary's office knows

04:26you don't walk in and say,

04:27kill them!

04:27It's just patently ridiculous.

04:29It's meant to create a cartoon of me

04:32and the decisions that we make

04:33and how we make them.

04:34It's just ridiculous.

04:35The chairman and Admiral Bradley

04:37and everybody shot it down immediately

04:38because anybody that knows,

04:40knows that's not how things go.

04:41There's a very defined process,

04:43specific criteria, go, no, go,

04:46yes, no, lawyers, intel analysts, everything,

04:49and then after that,

04:50you simply say, cleared hot or not.

04:52Did you have a plan to deal with survivors?

04:55There was protocol for dealing with survivors,

04:57but in that,

04:58and frankly, there was a,

04:59I don't know, 10 strikes later,

05:01there was a semi-submersible

05:02that I think folks here,

05:03meaning a submarine.

05:05You don't go fishing on a submarine

05:07full of drugs,

05:09and in that particular case,

05:11the first strike didn't take it out.

05:13A couple guys jumped off

05:14and swam, from what I understand,

05:16a ways away.

05:17When we struck the submarine

05:18a second time, it sunk,

05:20and then you had two people

05:21that you had to go get,

05:22and we had the ability to go get them,

05:23and we gave them back to their host countries.

05:25That's a story that's already been out in the public.

05:27So we didn't change our protocol.

05:29It was just a different circumstance.

05:30So what people think is cavalier

05:32or cowboy about it

05:33is the exact opposite.

05:35These are the most professional Americans

05:37going through specific processes

05:39about what they can and cannot do,

05:41understanding all the authorities,

05:42all the laws of war,

05:44all the capabilities,

05:45and applying it

05:46to deter our adversaries.

05:48And by the way,

05:50there aren't many people

05:51getting in boats right now,

05:52running drugs,

05:53which is the whole point.

05:55We want to stop the poisoning

05:56of the American people.

05:57The catch and release program

05:59of the pat them on the head

06:00and release them

06:00so they can go back to the fight

06:01didn't work in Iraq and Afghanistan,

06:03and it's not going to work in the Caribbean.

06:05So we're putting them

06:05at the bottom of the Caribbean,

06:06which forces them

06:07to change the way they operate

06:08and hopefully makes

06:10the American people safer in the process.

06:11Not hopefully.

06:12It will make the American people

06:13safer in the process.

06:14So, Mr. Secretary,

06:14you will be releasing

06:15that full video.

06:17We are reviewing it right now.

06:18Is that a yes or no?

06:20That is...

06:20The most important thing to me

06:23are the ongoing operations

06:24in the Caribbean

06:25with our folks

06:27that use bespoke capabilities,

06:30techniques, procedures

06:31in the process.

06:32I'm way more interested

06:33in protecting that

06:34than anything else.

06:35So we're reviewing the process

06:36and we'll see.

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BREAKING: Hegseth REFUSES to Release Sept. 2 Boat Strike Video | Says 'We Are Still Reviewing It'

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