Trump’s boat strikes are killing potentially innocent civilians. They must be stopped.

10 comments

1. **From Brett Max Kaufman, senior counsel at the ACLU:** 

   On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. military had killed six people in a strike on a boat that, Trump said, was “trafficking narcotics.” It was the fifth such strike in international waters since Sept. 2, with a combined death toll of 27 people. The Trump administration has promised even more to come, but we already know enough about these strikes to call them what they are: extrajudicial killings that are flagrantly illegal under both domestic and international law. 

   No one is under any illusions that anyone in the administration is likely to listen to the voices across the political spectrum who agree with this conclusion: Vice President (and Yale Law graduate) JD Vance declared he doesn’t “give a s—” whether the strikes are illegal. But it is critical that the rest of us refuse to treat these strikes as a new normal. Everyone who cares about the rule of law and human rights must continue to press for transparency, accountability and an immediate end to this illegal and lethal campaign.

2. You clearly don’t know your history when it comes to the U.S. and South America if you’re surprised by this. In fact, this is one of the least intrusive policies the U.S. has had regarding South American countries.

3. Trump & Co won’t stop and I think the public secretly likes these strikes. So no reason to stop.

   I wonder if the cartels will stop using these routes now. Are there any indications they’re holding back?

   And if the CIA for example actually has real proof they are cartels boats, would it be justified then?

4. In the macro sense, they were just part of the shaping operation that is now being activated in that public announcement.

5. Potentially innocent, eh?

6. Just getting started

7. An ounce of prevention on the high seas is worth a hundred pounds of cure domestically.

8. Sometimes I think these strikes are just meant to blaze the trail for operations against Antifa.

9. Have to admit this brings up a lot of questions. It’s clear, at least to me, that the plan is to interdict by making some dramatic examples of a few. The influence of drugs and loss of life in our country is undeniable. But ….

   how sure are we that these are bad guys? And why not intercept them by sea and take them into custody? It would seem more consistent with American character and values than this approach.

10. Even if they are full blown cartel members, they are not military combatants. Even if they are designated as terrorists, they are not military combatants. Even if they have drugs on that boat headed to the US, they are not military combatants. There is zero legal justification for these strikes. Assuming these are cartel boats, these guys are also going to be the lowest level guys in the organization.

    The majority of illegal drugs (80-95%) come in through legal ports of entry, so all these strikes are doing is pissing off Venezuela and cartels. What a fine way to *invite* terrorist attacks or more laced drugs into the United States.

    And why not interdict these boats, parade the cartel members in front of the media and stack the kilos for a photo op?

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