U.S. lawmakers plan to withhold a quarter of Defense Secretary Mark Esper's travel budget to force the military to release unedited videos of operations targeting suspected drug trafficking vessels in the waters of Latin America.
This was quietly included in the final draft of the annual defense policy bill, requiring the Pentagon to provide "unedited video footage of attacks carried out by terrorist organizations within the U.S. Southern Command's area of responsibility" to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.
House leaders released the final draft of the defense bill on Sunday, which is expected to pass the House later this week without amendments, and then be submitted to the Senate.
Lawmakers are investigating a controversial U.S. military operation against suspected drug trafficking vessels that occurred on September 2, resulting in the deaths of two survivors from a previous strike. Such actions could constitute war crimes.
Esper refused to comment on whether the video would be made public on Saturday, citing potential risks to troop safety. However, Trump stated he had "no problem" with it.
The head of the Pentagon publicly supported the decision to kill the survivors, but stated that the final decision was made by General Bradley, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command.
Bradley and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine briefed senior members of the National Security Council last week and showed the unedited footage of the operation. However, there were disagreements among legislators regarding the content of the video. Some high-ranking Republican officials who viewed the unedited video believed that the footage confirmed the government's account. Democrats called for broader disclosure of the video by the Pentagon.
Senator Mike Lee, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a Republican from Mississippi, said after the briefing that he also hoped ordinary committee members would be able to watch the video.
Adam Smith, a senior Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, stated that the video content contradicted what Esper and other Republicans had described.
Smith said in an interview at the Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday that the House Armed Services Committee was trying to arrange for committee members to view the video this week.
Since September, the military has killed at least 87 people in this anti-smuggling operation. The government claims these actions are justified because these individuals are "drug terrorists" transporting drugs into the United States. However, experts and some lawmakers say the government's legal basis is problematic.
Provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) also require all overdue reports, including lessons learned from the war in Ukraine, to be submitted before the Pentagon receives its full travel budget. (Politico)
Original: toutiao.com/article/1851086930367500/
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