Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall calls the drug-boat strikes the most egregious example of an illegal or immoral order
Frank KendallFormer Secretary of the Air Force, interviewed on ABC's This Week
Frank Kendall said that when officers are asked to do something "illegal, immoral, wrong, or even unconstitutional", "The most egregious example is the strikes on drug boats".
“it's not accurate when you're asked to do something that's illegal, immoral, wrong, or even unconstitutional. The most egregious example is the strikes on drug boats.”
Original video
Interview
Where this statement fits
Was the U.S. military's September 19 Caribbean boat strike justified by evidence of narcotics trafficking?
On September 19, 2026, U.S. Southern Command announced that Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere had struck a go-fast vessel in the Caribbean Sea and killed four people it called "narco-terrorists". The command said "Confirmed intelligence revealed the vessel's active involvement in narco-trafficking". According to The Associated Press, the military did not provide evidence that the vessel was carrying drugs. On September 20, U.N. Special Rapporteur Ben Saul posted a briefing note concluding that U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats since September 2025 amount to "serial extrajudicial killings" and that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" the 68 attacks he counted through August 2026 "constituted crimes against humanity of murder". White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said on September 22 that the strikes have been "against designated narcoterrorists". The dispute is whether the intelligence Southern Command cites, which it did not release with its announcement, justified the September 19 strike.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
ABC News video of Frank Kendall's September 6, 2026 interview. The quotation in this record is taken from the audio.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Interview
About this source
ABC News rush transcript of This Week for September 6, 2026. Kendall discusses his New York Times opinion essay and the military's obligations.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
In the September 6, 2026 interview, Kendall discussed his New York Times opinion essay "Military Officers Can't Look Away From This Any Longer". Asked about Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he said Caine is "drawing the line in the wrong place".
After the quotation
The interview predates the September 19 strike, and Kendall's remark concerns the strike campaign as a whole.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Measured against the strikes, Kendall names them as the most egregious example of an order that is illegal, immoral, wrong or unconstitutional, which is an express condemnation.
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More from this case
Read the full caseRachel VanLandingham says international condemnation makes it clearer the boat strikes are unlawful
“For the vast majority of service members, except perhaps the senior-most commanders, there is both no safe recourse for them to disobey orders related to the illegal boat strikes and at the same time, there is no exposure to criminal liability for them either … Yes, the growing international condemnation makes it clearer that these strikes are unlawful, but doesn’t overcome the White House’s own legal sanitization process and doesn’t create a legal duty for any service member to disobey their boat strike-related orders”Read statement
Southern Command tells Task & Purpose its operations have been conducted lawfully
U.S. Southern Command
“have been conducted lawfully, fully complying with the law of armed conflict”Read statement
Chuy Garcia calls the Caribbean and Pacific boat strikes illegal extrajudicial killings
“Donald Trump is dropping bombs across the Caribbean and Pacific in blatant violation of the law and of fundamental human rights … This has done nothing to stop the flow of drugs or to make Americans safer. Instead, it has left hundreds dead, families devastated, and communities in fear. Let us call these attacks what they are: illegal extrajudicial killings.”Read statement
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- Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall calls the drug-boat strikes the most egregious example of an illegal or immoral order
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The Dispute Index. "Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall calls the drug-boat strikes the most egregious example of an illegal or immoral order". First published: 2026-09-26. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/2659-frank-kendall-said-that-when-officers-are-asked