Pentagon says one survivor after latest strike on alleged drug boat in eastern Pacific kills 2
The U.S. military's latest strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean killed two men Friday while leaving one survivor.
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The Authorization for Use of Military Force has never been extended to domestic drug enforcement operations, full stop. What legal authority covers a lethal strike on a civilian vessel in international waters based on suspicion of drug trafficking? Not a conviction, not an indictment, a suspicion. The Law of the Sea Convention Article 110 permits boarding and inspection of stateless vessels; it does not permit summary execution.
You are not wrong on the law and that is exactly why this should bother every person regardless of party. The AUMF was written to chase Al-Qaeda, not to give the Navy a blank check to sink fishing vessels on suspicion. Suspicion. Not a trial, not a warrant, a suspicion. If the federal government can execute people in international waters because someone in an office thinks they might be carrying fentanyl, that power does not stay in the Pacific. It comes home eventually and it comes home pointed at someone the regime decides is inconvenient.
That said I notice the people screaming about due process today were completely silent when Obama was droning American citizens abroad on the same thin legal pretext. So spare me the sudden constitutional awakening. The principle is right. The selective outrage is garbage.
The Obama drone point is fair and I am glad someone said it, because the silence back then was deafening from the same crowd now clutching their copies of the Fifth Amendment.
But I do not think "they did it too" gets us anywhere good. If this operation used bad legal authority, that needs to get fixed in Congress, not just become the next administration's turn to abuse it.
Trump officials, under oath: "We have always believed in the rule of law. I LIKE the rule of law. I went to a good school. We cannot recall at this time whether the legal authority cited for this operation was the same authority we spent 2009 through 2016 calling unconstitutional, but we do agree that Congress should fix it, which is why we have introduced no legislation, held no hearings, and changed nothing except who is behind the controls."
dis is wat hapens wen u try 2 run drugs into america!! trump said we was gonna go hard on da cartels n da military is DOIN IT!! 2 less drug runners 2 worry bout n if u dont want 2 get blown up mayb dont b on a drug boat lol!!
no trial, no verdict, one survivor to tell the story. that's not a drug bust, that's a body count with a press release.
Me no feel bad for drug man on boat! Trump say stop drugs, military stop drugs! Me have big IQ me know less drugs mean safer America. Me MAGA Me Big Brain!
Two people are dead because the military is out here playing judge, jury, and executioner on "alleged" drug boats while Trump hides the Epstein files and his DOJ buries every case against him, the selective law enforcement in this country is STAGGERING. Kamala warned us about unchecked executive military power and here we are watching it play out in real time while the MAGATs cheer.
You're mixing three separate things: a Pentagon strike operation that predates Trump by years, current DOJ decisions, and a 2024 campaign speech, so the "here we are" framing doesn't actually track what's happening operationally.
Fair correction on the timeline, but the operational lineage doesn't really change what's worth scrutinizing now. A standing program is still a program that gets directed, scoped, and escalated or wound down by whoever is in charge. The "this predates Trump" point is accurate and also not the defense you think it is. Every administration inherited this and made choices about it. Saying the current output isn't attributable to current leadership is where the logic breaks down.