U.S. commanders followed the law in the second strike on a suspected drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean, retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax on Saturday, while dismissing accusations that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth issued any blanket directive to kill survivors and calling the controversy a politically driven storyline.
"Look, the story was ludicrous," Holt said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend."
"The second I had heard it, we just, all professionals bit their lips because we knew that once the sunlight came in and the transparency came in, we'd all figure this out, that the CEO of the world's largest enterprise, nearly $1 trillion in budget authority, doesn't have time to decide who lives and dies on a battlefield."
Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley, testifying before a closed-door session of the Senate Intelligence Committee this week, denied reports that Hegseth gave a "kill them all" order before an attack that killed two survivors of an initial strike on an alleged drug boat in international waters near Venezuela.
Holt said the footage and follow-on reporting showed a scenario he said was consistent with a lawful engagement involving active participants in a criminal enterprise, not helpless victims.
"When we got to the tapes, what really happened is you got two combatants who, rather than just sit there and await rescue, go back to the boat, start trying to save whatever drugs they can because they want to get back into this fight," he said.
"Maybe one of their fellow drug runners is going to come get them. No, not the case — so no, this is just fine," Holt added.
Meanwhile, Holt on Saturday called for an investigation into six Democratic lawmakers and their video calling on members of the military to disobey what they called unlawful orders from the Trump administration.
"Now we've got to flip the script and interview these six seditious elected officials, who it does seem like they were step two of a broken narrative," Holt said.
Holt also discussed the ongoing negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, saying Russian battlefield gains are shaping what can realistically be achieved at the table and accusing European leaders of obstructing President Donald Trump's efforts to reach a workable settlement.
"Well, I think he wants to end the war," Holt said of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"But, you know, they're having success on the battlefield...it's a reality. It's a fact. What we have to do is work on a deal that accommodates those realities," he added.
Holt said the objective should be a sovereign Ukraine with core political and economic protections, adding that diplomacy must reflect conditions on the ground.
"What we need to see out of this is a sovereign Ukraine that keeps the seaport, that has a democracy, where they actually elect the individuals in the government, and we can get there," he said.
Holt said Europe should be helping finalize a settlement rather than, he said, trying to derail it.
"There's no military path to success," he said. "There is a negotiable, economically based path to success."
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