\n<\/p>\n
Special Operations Command<\/span> pushed back on the contention that Adm. Frank Bradley ordered a double-tap attack when the U.S. military conducted a second strike killing survivors of the September 2 boat attack in the Caribbean, first reported by The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe does not see his actions on 2 SEP as a \u2018double tap,\u2019\u201d Col. Allie Weiskopf, a Special Operations Command spokesperson told The Intercept on Tuesday in response to questions about the follow-up attack.<\/p>\n In military jargon, the term \u201cdouble tap\u201d \u2014 which has no legal or doctrinal meaning \u2014 typically refers to a follow-on strike to kill rescuers or first responders. Such attacks have been carried out by U.S. forces in conflicts including the drone wars in Pakistan<\/a>, Somalia<\/a>, and Yemen<\/a>. Israel has carried out double-tap<\/a> strikes in its most recent war on Gaza<\/a>, targeting journalists and rescue efforts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Secretary of War Pete Hegseth acknowledged U.S. forces conducted a follow-up strike on the alleged drug boat during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday, but distanced himself from the killing of individuals clinging to the wreckage. \u201cI didn\u2019t personally see survivors,\u201d Hegseth told<\/a> reporters, noting that he watched live footage of the attack. \u201cThe thing was on fire. It was exploded in fire and smoke. You can\u2019t see it.\u201d He added, \u201cThis is called the fog of war.\u201d<\/p>\n Hegseth said Bradley \u2014 then the commander of Joint Special Operations Command and now head of Special Operations Command \u2014 \u201cmade the right call\u201d in ordering the second strike after Hegseth allegedly left the room.<\/p>\n The statements from Hegseth and Special Operations Command on Tuesday mark an evolution in the Pentagon\u2019s response to the killings. But several government officials and experts on the laws of war said messaging focusing on technical definitions misses the reason this strike has drawn widespread condemnation.<\/p>\n \u201cQuibbling over the semantics of \u2018double-tap\u2019 doesn\u2019t change the reality that the strike was a summary execution of men clinging to the remains of a boat,\u201d Sarah Harrison, who advised Pentagon policymakers on issues related to human rights and the law of war in her former role as associate general counsel at the Pentagon\u2019s Office of General Counsel, International Affairs, told The Intercept.<\/p>\n The military has carried out 21 known attacks, destroying 22 boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September, killing at least 83 civilians<\/a>. Since the attacks began, experts in the laws of war and members of Congress, from both parties<\/a>, say the strikes are illegal extrajudicial killings <\/a>because the military is not permitted to deliberately target civilians \u2014 even suspected criminals \u2014 who do not pose an imminent threat. In the long-running U.S. war on drugs<\/a>, suspected smugglers have been arrested<\/a> by law enforcement rather than subjected to summary execution.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n