OT subject but worth a main-stream read- OT News Feeds...

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Thursday Southern Command update:

"Before the strikes on purported drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific began in September, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved contingency plans for what to do if an initial strike left survivors, according to several U.S. officials. The plans said that the military would attempt to rescue survivors unless they took what the United States deemed to be a hostile action. The officials said that after the first strike on Sept. 2, one of the two survivors radioed for help, adding that Adm. Frank M. Bradley ordered a follow-up strike in which both were killed. Helene Cooper, Julian E. Barnes, Charlie Savage, and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times.

Adm. Frank M. Bradley is expected to tell lawmakers today in a classified briefing that the two survivors of the initial Sept. 2 strike were legitimate military targets because their vessel was still believed to contain narcotics and they were perceived as capable of continuing drug trafficking, a U.S. official told Reuters. Bradley will be joined by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Dan Caine, to answer questions about the attack. Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart report.

President Trump said yesterday that he is open to releasing video footage of the second strike on Sept. 2. “I don’t know what they have, but whatever they have, we’d certainly release, no problem,” Trump told reporters. Jacob Wendler reports for POLITICO.

Hegseth asked Adm. Alvin Holsey to step down rather than Holsey simply retiring, as Hegseth previously announced in mid-October, according to two Pentagon officials. The officials said that the de facto ouster was a culmination of months of discord between Hegseth and Holsey, which intensified when Holsey voiced concerns about the legality of the strikes on alleged drugs boats in the Caribbean. Lara Seligman, Vera Bergengruen, and Alexander Ward report for the Wall Street Journal."