In part, Senator Cotton said:
“I want to thank Admiral Bradley and General Caine for coming to brief about the strikes on September 2nd which were righteous strikes. These are narco-terrorists who are trafficking drugs that are destined for the United States to kill thousands of Arkansans and millions of Americans. The first strike, the second strike, and the third and fourth strike on September 2nd were entirely lawful and needful and they were exactly what we would expect our military commanders to do.”
Senator Cotton’s full remarks may be found here and below.
Reporter: Were you satisfied with what the Admiral had to say?
Senator Cotton: Yes, entirely.
Reporter: How did they justify the second strike? Do you have concerns that there may be …
Senator Cotton: I want to thank Admiral Bradley and General Caine for coming to brief about the strikes on September 2nd which were righteous strikes. These are narco-terrorists who are trafficking drugs that are destined for the United States to kill thousands of Arkansans and millions of Americans. The first strike, the second strike, and the third and fourth strike on September 2nd were entirely lawful and needful and they were exactly what we would expect our military commanders to do.
Reporter: What exactly did you see in terms of the video of the 2nd strike? Were there survivors?
Senator Cotton: I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat, loaded with drugs, bound for the United States, back over so they could stay in the fight and potentially giving all the context we heard of other narco-terrorists boats in the area coming to their aid to recover their cargo and recover those narco-terrorists. And just like you would blow up a boat off Somali coast or the Yemeni coast and you would come back and strike it again if it still had terrorists and if it still had explosives or missiles, Admiral Bradley and Secretary Hegseth did exactly what we would expect them to do.
Reporter: Congressman Himes said it was one of the most disturbing things he’s seen in his career.
Senator Cotton: Who did?
Reporter: Congressman Himes.
Senator Cotton: No, I didn’t see anything disturbing about it. What’s disturbing to me is that knowing that Americans have died from drugs being run to America by these cartels. What’s gratifying to me is that the President has made the decision finally, after decades of letting it happen that we are doing to take the battle to them and we’re going to continue to strike these boats until the cartels learn their lesson that their drugs are no longer coming to America.
Reporter: Did a military JAG say that the second and following strikes were all lawful?
Senator Cotton: Yes, look this is not like a firefight in some cave in Afghanistan that had three people. This was witnessed by literally hundreds of uniformed and civilian personnel at the Pentagon, at Fort Bragg, at other installations, dozens of them were lawyers. Everyone is watching, everyone had seen the intelligence and the legal basis leading up to these strikes, everyone is present during it and that continues to be the case. There’s been no change in the guidance or the order that the Secretary has given to our troopers. And in subsequent strikes there’s an example of where survivors actually were shipwrecked and distressed and not trying to continue on their mission and they were treated as they should be as non-combatants and were picked up by US forces. Just an example of how, of course, our military always obeys the laws of war. Our military also acts within appropriate lawful authority to target these narco-terrorists.
Reporter: But Congressman Himes also said that according to what he saw in that video the two who survived trying to get back on the boat, there was no way they could have conducted further operations or anything like that, do you disagree?
Senator Cotton: You know, Jim may disagree with the entire operation, he may be ok with drug boats running to America or at least thinking that it’s an effective tactic to interdict them. I just disagree with that, these are narco-terrorists, foreign, designated, terrorist organizations who are bringing drugs to our shores that have killed millions of Americans and thousands of Arkansans. If you think these strikes are justified and righteous as I do, and I want them to continue, then of course the second strike when you have two survivors who are trying to flip their boat back over and continue on their mission remain in the battle. Unlike a subsequent strike, in which there was no such indication, and they were what’s called distressed or shipwrecked under the laws of the sea and the law of armed conflict and our military went out and picked them up.
Reporter: Is it your expectation that these strikes will continue?
Senator Cotton: It’s my expectation and my deep hope that these strikes will continue.
Reporter: What about on land? The President has said these strikes could happen on land. Is that something you would support?
Senator Cotton: If necessary to stop the flow of drugs into the United States and protect our communities and our children, we should take force to these cartels wherever they are.
Reporter: Should this full video be released? Should briefings become far more common as strikes continue?
Senator Cotton: No, look, it’s not Congress’s role to sharp shoot every single tactical decision. This was the first strike so understandably the Secretary and Admiral Bradley wanted to be involved in it, but subsequent strikes, again we don’t expect Admirals and the Secretary of Defense to be approving patrols in Iraq or Afghanistan during the War on Terror in those places. They shouldn’t be involved in every single decision here and nor should Congress be sitting there sharp shooting and Monday morning quarterbacking.
Reporter: But yesterday the President told reporters that this is war regarding the actions with Venezuela. So that seems like an escalation that Congress would want to be a part of.
Senator Cotton: Well look, they came up here today to brief us because of the lies written in the Washington Post last Friday to clear the air. I’d advise them next time to immediately put out what they told us today. If they put this out on Friday and Saturday, you wouldn’t have had these six days of controversy. I think you would have had the American people very satisfied that we have such a high degree of professionalism in our military and that the President is taking the battle to these narco-terrorists.
Reporter: So, you believe the whole video should be released in its entirety?
Senator Cotton: I mean I’ll leave that up to the Department of Defense and whether or not there is anything in there they don’t want to release. I didn’t see anything in there that concerned me. Look these videos have been made and released for 25 years. You’ve all seen videos that have been released of drone strikes or helicopter strikes on terrorist groups in Afghanistan or Syria or Iraq or Yemen. There’s nothing novel or new here, just cause it happened on water doesn’t make it any different than happening on land.
Reporter: So, Senator, there was no change in protocol or policy from September 2nd through the rest of these strikes? That’s your understanding?
Senator Cotton: Nope, General Caine made it clear multiple times under questions from me that the orders have not changed from the first strike to today. So, the actions that our military took from September 2nd and the actions they took on a subsequent strike in which there were distressed, shipwrecked that were deemed noncombatant is happening under the same legal standards operation order.
Reporter: Was there a “kill all order” from Secretary Hegseth?
Senator Cotton: No, Admiral Bradley was very clear that he was given no such order not to give no quarter or to kill them all, he was given an order that of course was written down in great detail as our military always does.
Reporter: Was there a vocal order as well?
Senator Cotton: There was no vocal order either.
Reporter: After what you heard today, do you think it’s appropriate for Senator Wicker to continue this investigation into the second strike?
Senator Cotton: Well, I mean I think what we saw today and what Senator Wicker and Senator Reed on Armed Services Committee saw today is a very thorough inquiry into exactly what happened. I can’t say exactly what’s going to happen on the committee in the future, but I think what happened today with General Caine, Admiral Bradley coming up, showing us the videos, kind of talking through everything that led up to September 2nd is a very thorough review of what happened.
Reporter: So, no further information is needed?
Senator Cotton: I don’t personally need any more information, no.
Reporter: Sir, how far apart were the strikes?
Senator Cotton: I mean they were several minutes apart, and you had obscurance both the smoke of the first strike and then the cloud cover as well. I couldn’t tell you exactly how long.
Reporter: But minutes?
Senator Cotton: I think minutes yeah.
Reporter: Minutes, not hours?
Senator Cotton: I don’t think so.
Reporter: Senator, you said the strikes were righteous. Would you have taken the same shot if you were in that position?
Senator Cotton: If I was Admiral Bradley and I had been delegated that authority, absolutely. I’d do it again.
Reporter: Based on the briefing you’ve have received, do you agree with the President that we at war in the Caribbean?
Senator Cotton: These drug cartels have been waging war against the American people for decades and we are finally simply joining in. I got to go vote. Thank you.