Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Sunday defended the Trump administration's strikes on boats "crewed by associates and members" of drug cartels designated as foreign terrorist organizations and urged that they continue.
In an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press," Cotton — chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee who attended briefings on the operation — said the mission’s purpose is straightforward: "Destroy these drug boats" that he said are pushing narcotics toward U.S. shores and fueling overdose deaths across the country.
"The order, like the entire operation, Kristen, is to destroy these drug boats, which are running drugs into our country from foreign drug cartels and traffickers that are killing hundreds of Arkansans every year and hundreds of thousands of Americans," Cotton told host Kristen Welker.
NBC News reported Saturday night that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the killing of all 11 people aboard a targeted vessel because intelligence and military officials deemed them legally targetable "narco-terrorists."
Cotton said he did not personally hear an official use the phrase "target list," but said he was told the military had "high confidence based on multiple sources of intelligence that everyone on that boat was part of a foreign terrorist organization" and therefore "valid targets."
Cotton also pushed back hard on earlier media reports suggesting the U.S. struck "helpless survivors" after an initial hit.
He said that characterization was wrong and insisted the men were not "floating in the ocean on a wooden plank or in life jackets," but instead were on a capsized vessel and "not incapacitated in any way."
Cotton argued a follow-on strike was lawful and necessary "to make sure that its cargo was destroyed," adding, "It is in no way a violation of the law of war."
Democrats who viewed video of the incident have disputed that interpretation, with some arguing the men appeared shipwrecked or possibly signaling surrender.
Cotton dismissed that framing, saying the central point was that the boat, its cargo, and its crew remained legitimate targets in an active counter-narcotics operation.
Pressed that the drugs may have been headed first to Suriname and then to Europe or Africa, Cotton said cartels often transfer loads between vessels and stressed that any drug-boat crewed by cartel operatives is a threat.
"Any boat loaded with drugs that is crewed by associates and members of foreign terrorist organizations that are trying to kill American kids I think is a valid target," he said. "I'm not just comfortable with it, I want to continue it."
Cotton also said he would support releasing the strike video publicly, calling it "not gruesome" and similar to past U.S. strike footage, while acknowledging the Pentagon may need to protect sensitive sources and methods.
Newsmax Wires contributed to this report.
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