“This morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a SECOND Kinetic Strike against positively identified, extraordinarily violent drug trafficking cartels and narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility,”
Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“The Strike occurred while these confirmed narcoterrorists from Venezuela were in International Waters transporting illegal narcotics (A DEADLY WEAPON POISONING AMERICANS!) headed to the U.S. These extremely violent drug trafficking cartels POSE A THREAT to U.S. National Security, Foreign Policy, and vital U.S. Interests,” he continued.
“The Strike resulted in 3 male terrorists killed in action,” Trump went on. “No U.S. Forces were harmed in this Strike. BE WARNED — IF YOU ARE TRANSPORTING DRUGS THAT CAN KILL AMERICANS, WE ARE HUNTING YOU! The illicit activities by these cartels have wrought DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES ON AMERICAN COMMUNITIES FOR DECADES, killing millions of American Citizens. NO LONGER. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”
The post was accompanied by unclassified footage of the brutal strike which showed a boat floating peacefully along before it erupted into a massive fire ball. There is no way to tell from the video if these were actually drug traffickers or just innocent boaters who Trump decided to kill for a PR win with his base.
If these victims were in fact drug traffickers — and that’s a big “if” because Trump provided no hard evidence for his allegations — this strike is still indefensible. We believe in due process in the United States. People suspected of crimes are supposed to be arrested and tried in a court of law, not extrajudicially murdered with military hardware on the orders of a convicted felon.
Let’s not mince words about what this is. Donald Trump is bragging about a terror attack that he himself ordered. The end of his post makes it clear. This strike was designed to terrorize not only drug traffickers but peaceful migrants. He is sending a message to the world that anyone headed in the general direction of the United States can be killed without warning.
This attack becomes especially disturbing when one considers the fact that we still don’t have the full story on his previous Venezuelan boat strike. Senator Jack Reed was briefed on that mass killing and stated that the MAGA Pentagon failed to provide evidence to support their claim that those victims were “members of Tren de Aragua or any other cartel.”
Not only that, but the Pentagon officials who briefed him admitted that they were unable to discern exactly where it was that that boat was headed.
“There is no evidence – none – that this strike was conducted in self-defense,” Reed said of the first strike. “That matters, because under both domestic and international law, the US military simply does not have the authority to use lethal force against a civilian vessel unless acting in self-defense.”
Donald Trump has completely hijacked the Department of Defense for cheap partisan gain. Congress must launch an immediate investigation into these strikes.
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