New York Times contradicts Washington Post's assertion that Hegseth fired on boat wreck survivors

The New York Times has contradicted reporting from the Washington Post on the September 2 attack on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean. The report from the Washington Post said that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had ordered the killing of two survivors after missiles were fired at their boat. The New York Times reports that the order to fire was not given in response to survivors. 

The Sept. attack on a boat was one of several carried out in the Caribbean to prevent drugs from being trafficked into the US.  

Here is the Washington Post's report from November 28:

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a spoken directive, according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation. “The order was to kill everybody,” one of them said.

"A missile screamed off the Trinidad coast, striking the vessel and igniting a blaze from bow to stern. For minutes, commanders watched the boat burning on a live drone feed. As the smoke cleared, they got a jolt: Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck."

"The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack — the opening salvo in the Trump administration’s war on suspected drug traffickers in the Western Hemisphere — ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, two people familiar with the matter said. The two men were blown apart in the water."

The New York Times, on December 2, reported:

"According to five U.S. officials, who spoke separately and on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter that is under investigation, Mr. Hegseth, ahead of the Sept. 2 attack, ordered a strike that would kill the people on the boat and destroy the vessel and its purported cargo of drugs."

"But, each official said, Mr. Hegseth’s directive did not specifically address what should happen if a first missile turned out not to fully accomplish all of those things. And, the officials said, his order was not a response to surveillance footage showing that at least two people on the boat survived the first blast."

"Admiral Bradley ordered the initial missile strike and then several follow-up strikes that killed the initial survivors and sank the disabled boat. As that operation unfolded, they said, Mr. Hegseth did not give any further orders to him."

In response to the reporting by the Washington Post, many Democrat lawmakers have been screaming for Hegseth's proverbial head, claiming that he had committed war crimes by attacking survivors of a wreck. The White House had defended Hegseth on Monday, saying that Trump backed Hegseth.

"President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narcoterrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war," said Karoline Leavitt in a prepared statement on Monday. "With respect to the strikes in question on September 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated."