US airstrike survivors clung to boat wreckage for an hour before second deadly attack, video shows

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/05/us-airstrike-survivors-clung-to-boat-wreckage-for-an-hour-before-second-deadly-attack-video-shows

Two men who survived a US airstrike on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean clung to the wreckage for an hour before they were killed in a second attack, according to a video of the episode shown to senators in Washington.

The men were shirtless, unarmed and carried no visible radio or other communications equipment. They also appeared to have no idea what had just hit them, or that the US military was weighing whether to finish them off, two sources familiar with the recording told Reuters.

The pair desperately tried to turn a severed section of the hull upright before they died. “The video follows them for about an hour as they tried to flip the boat back over. They couldn’t do it,” one source said.

182 points · 24 comments · view on lemmy.world

24 Comments

BaroqueInMind@piefed.social · 78 pts · 247d (7 replies)

Everyone in the chain of command in that specific operation needs to be in prison.

LuigiMaoFrance@lemmy.ml · 12 pts · 247d (1 reply)

They can just die tbh

smeenz@lemmy.nz · 8 pts · 246d

From two missile attacks, an hour apart.

Rooskie91@discuss.online · 11 pts · 247d (4 replies)

Prison is where they should have sent their opponents instead of a second strike. They deserve death.

ThePantser@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 247d (2 replies)

They should get a double tap just like they did. Once to feel it, and another to finish the job.

shittydwarf@piefed.social · 10 pts · 247d (1 reply)

After an hour clinging on for dear life in the open ocean

burntbacon@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 246d

I think that should just be the navy way of doing things. Take all involved, up to cocksucker in chief himself, and just drop them in the middle of the arctic.

oyo@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 246d

Or, you know, before the first strike. If they were convicted of a crime in a court of law

rouxdoo@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 247d

An hour...long enough to consult the UCMJ and seek legal counsel before acting.

Maeve@kbin.earth · 18 pts · 247d (4 replies)

Jesus Christ.

HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml · 11 pts · 246d (2 replies)

The people who authorized and committed this war crime deserve the Jesus Christ treatment by the Romans

Maeve@kbin.earth · 5 pts · 246d (1 reply)

I'm not generally in favor of the death penalty but I can certainly understand how you arrived at that assessment, both legally and rationally.

Gaja0@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 246d

I'm not against death penalty for morality, I'm against it conceptually that the state has the right to strip someone of life. These people were served the death penalty for a crime that never happened. I'm not about to argue against someone praying for karmic justice. It's the golden rule.

WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 246d

Nah, he could've just walked home.

jacksilver@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 246d (1 reply)

Damn, an hour is a long time to wait. I had been assuming that it was a quick one two, but waiting an hour means they had time to see what happened and still decided to murder these people.

The only thing I can think of is they were afraid they might actually survive and speak out against them.

BanMe@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 246d

Man they're bragging about the strikes on the nightly news they weren't trying to hide shit. They just think they can use the military to murder people now, and they were using this as a test case to see how it went.

quick_snail@feddit.nl · 1 pts · 246d

Why didn't they have PFDs?

TangledHyphae@lemmy.world · -3 pts · 246d (8 replies)

Were these guys smuggling drugs into the US?

smeenz@lemmy.nz · 20 pts · 246d

Even if they were, nothing makes it acceptable to just be summarily executed by a foreign military.

Tinidril@midwest.social · 16 pts · 246d

From a legal perspective, there was no trial and therefore no conviction so we must presume innocence.

From a rational perspective, none of these boats are remotely capable of reaching America across open ocean. They would have to refuel multiple times to do so, and still probably couldn't make it. That's just one of many reasons why the accusation is ridiculous.

BassTurd@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 246d

No.

DancingBear@midwest.social · 5 pts · 246d
[ removed ]
Almacca@aussie.zone · 5 pts · 246d (1 reply)

No-one knows. We only have the word of chronic liars.

DancingBear@midwest.social · 4 pts · 246d
[ removed ]
tonyn@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 246d

That's the neat part of sending all the evidence to the bottom of the ocean.

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 245d

All drugs should be legal and regulated