"What I saw in the room (of Congress) was among the most disturbing things I have witnessed in my time in public service," said Democratic Congressman Jim Himes after the hearing on Thursday, according to the BBC .
The sequence he describes is from the video clip depicting the second attack on a boat in the Caribbean Sea in early September. The incident has left Defense Minister Pete Hegseth in a state of shock.
Helpless state
According to media reports, the boat was first fired upon, but when it was determined that two people had survived, another round of firing was fired upon.
The procedure has met with sharp criticism from lawyers and former military personnel, who believe that the attacks constitute a violation of international law and possibly even a war crime.
Jim Himes says that there were certainly drugs on board the ship, but that the video clearly shows that the survivors were in a helpless state.
Rejects data
They were not able to continue their mission in any way, he says, who, together with top Democrat Adam Smith, is demanding that the clip showing attack number two be made public.
Several members of Congress state after the closed-door hearing with the operationally responsible military officer, Admiral Frank Bradley, that Hegseth did not "give the order to kill them all", as reported by the Washington Post, citing sources.
Among Republican members, including Senator Tom Cotton, several believe that both Bradley and Hegseth acted correctly.
