"The suspected drug traffickers, the lone survivors of a U.S. airstrike, were sprawled on a table-size piece of floating wreckage in the Caribbean for more than 40 minutes. They were unarmed, incommunicado, and adrift as they repeatedly attempted to right what remained of their boat. At one point, the men raised their arms and seemed to signal to the U.S. aircraft above, a gesture some who watched a video of the incident interpreted as a sign of surrender."
"The video was part of a briefing that Admiral Frank "Mitch" Bradley, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, gave lawmakers yesterday about the September 2 attack. Bradley told legislators that, after consulting military lawyers, he authorized the follow-on strike, judging that the men still posed a threat because of what they could have done: radioed for help or been picked up with what remained of their cargo of suspected cocaine."
Two suspected drug traffickers, lone survivors of a U.S. airstrike, lay on a piece of floating wreckage in the Caribbean for over 40 minutes. They were unarmed, incommunicado, and tried to right their boat. At one point they raised their arms and seemed to signal the U.S. aircraft, a gesture some interpreted as surrender. A second explosion killed the men, leaving a bloody stain on the sea. Footage of their final moments nauseated some viewers. Admiral Frank Bradley said he authorized the follow-on strike after consulting military lawyers because the men could radio for help or be recovered with suspected cocaine. Partisan disagreement and oversight scrutiny followed.
Read at The Atlantic
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