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During a tense House Armed Services Committee hearing, Bill Keating sharply criticized the Pentagon’s justification for recent strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats. Keating questioned the logic and legal grounding behind the operation, calling the explanation overly complex and unconvincing. His remarks were aimed at Pete Hegseth, who defended the administration’s stance. The exchange highlighted broader concerns about U.S. military engagement, rules of engagement at sea, and transparency in national security decisions, sparking debate over accountability and the clarity of defense policies.


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00:00We were given classified information on the second strike. I can't discuss it, but I must tell you, it's the
00:07most convoluted bullshit I ever heard in my life.
00:10This should be public. This is our honor. With that in mind, let's look back a few weeks ago when
00:16a fishing crew ended a long day of hard fishing, scoring a full stock of albacore and swordfish on board.
00:23Without any warning or expectation, this small Ecuadorian fishing vessel, operating about 200 nautical miles off the Galapagos Islands, was
00:33militarily engaged by U.S. forces.
00:36It was hit once, then it was hit again. Not a warning shot, not an interdiction, two drone strikes.
00:43Survivors described chaos and severe injuries.
00:46Our U.S. forces then handcuffed the crew at gunpoint, placed black hoods over their heads, seized and scrubbed their
00:52devices, and then held them for days.
00:56Ultimately, the crew was released, given there was no evidence.
00:59No evidence to support any narco activity or any charges that may be against them.
01:06So to recap, we struck a vessel, struck it again, set fire to it as it was sinking.
01:11And as public reports say, we drank their beer, we detained the survivors, and then we let them go.
01:18This should be eye-opening.
01:20Let's go to another example, the double-tap or two-strike attack that took place on September 2nd in the
01:27Caribbean.
01:27A vessel was struck, disabled, and then struck again, killing all but two survivors that were left clinging to the
01:34wreckage.
01:36And this is the thing. We know this happened. We know how it happened.
01:42And the Defense Department still refuses to release the follow-up video of the killing of the shipwrecked survivors,
01:48even though they released the initial one to the public in major news networks worldwide.
01:55No difference in sources and methods in the two videos, but still not released to the public.
02:01Of course, the backlash was severe at the time and perhaps is being forgotten.
02:06And in a predictable but ennoble display of character from this administration,
02:11fingers were pointed at one another as everyone scurried to cover,
02:14in a tacit acknowledgment that this was an issue potentially violating international law.
02:20Now, I've reviewed what's been available, the phony rationale that these attacks are about fentanyl trafficking,
02:28when we know fentanyl comes from China, India, through Mexico.
02:34Then the baseless argument that this was about narco-terrorism, you know, I don't believe a word of it.
02:40This was to create leverage for regime change in Venezuela.
02:46And now the President acknowledged that was about oil.
02:50Beyond the simple need for justice and exercising American values,
02:54it's important for us to discuss what the U.S. belligerence in the world stage means to our security,
03:01our ability to marshal cooperation with our allies,
03:04and most importantly, not to normalize these actions that could endanger the lives of our own service members put in
03:13similar peril.
03:16So, let me be clear about one thing.
03:18Whether it's these particular strikes discussed here, the one that killed 11 others off the coast of Venezuela,
03:24whether it's the 178 other killings,
03:27with each of these extrajudicial killings,
03:30the administration is pirating American values.
03:34We'll continue to investigate this.
03:37We will.
03:39It'll come forward in the future.
03:41Some days, that second video will be released.
03:45But we've got to stop also using our precious resources that are being taxed so heavily all over the world
03:52on actions that hurt our military.
03:56They hurt our military and they hurt our standing internationally.
04:01And they're hurting our standard here at home.
04:05I hope that we can move forward.
04:08I hope we're going to review whether these are justified because I found no justification.
04:15We were given classified information on the second strike.
04:18I can't discuss it.
04:19But I must tell you, it's the most convoluted bullshit I ever heard in my life.
04:25This should be public.
04:26This is our honor.
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