1. United States
2. Wash.
3. Letter

Pete Hegseth must resign. On September 2, 2025, U.S. forces struck a disabled vessel in international waters near Venezuela, killing nine people. Two survivors clung to the wreckage. A second strike killed both of them. The White House confirmed Hegseth authorized Admiral Frank Bradley to conduct both strikes. Hegseth later said he fully supported the second strike and would have ordered it himself. That is not a defensible command decision. The Pentagon's own Law of War Manual requires that shipwrecked combatants who abstain from hostilities be treated as protected persons. DoD guidance states that ordering fire on protected survivors is clearly illegal. Hegseth watched the first strike remotely, left for another meeting, and then endorsed the killing of two men who posed no threat. Representatives Adam Smith and Jim Himes reviewed the classified footage and described shirtless survivors on a disabled vessel. A defense secretary who publicly endorses the killing of shipwrecked survivors and would repeat that order has disqualified himself from leading the U.S. military. Demand his resignation now.