Donald Trump and maga Republicans must end illegal attacks against Venezuelan boats without proof to explain fake claims about drug smuggling

Drugs or no, US boat strikes violate the law

Echo opinion published in The Baltimore Sun, in Maryland, by Peter Jensen: For three months now, Americans have been regularly sickened by real-time images of military strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean that Donald Trump claims — so far without corroborating evidence — carry “narco-terrorists” running drugs bound for the United States. 

U.S. airstrikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have continued unabated since early September.

At least 20 attacks have been illegally ordered so far, with at least 83 deaths. As much as it may be tempting to believe that drug trafficking, particularly the trade in highly dangerous fentanyl, can be so easily dispatched, there is ample reason for skepticism. And that was reinforced by a recent Associated Press report that found victims who were not terrorists or even members of any drug cartel but simply average working-class Venezuelans (including laborers and at least one fisherman) earning an extra $500 to crew these craft.

Is this legal or are these deaths, as Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has described them, “extrajudicial?” There is ample evidence to believe the latter is true. And that the attacks dovetail with President Trump’s clear desire to unseat Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who he claims is in league with the drug cartels — which also helps explain why so many U.S. warships, including the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, are situated nearby. This further strains the credibility of a president itching to send in the troops.

Donald Trump may believe that referring to the drug smugglers as “unlawful combatants” or comparing drug traffickers to al-Qaida terrorists and claiming that every sunken boat saves 25,000 lives reinforces his position that the U.S. is at war, but that’s more than a small stretch of the truth. (There is zero proof❗)

More telling is the United Kingdom’s recent decision to suspend intelligence sharing with the U.S. about drug smuggling boats. Why would our nation’s closest ally, a country with much history in the region, choose to do that? Apparently, because Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is certain that U.S. actions are illegal.

Finally, here’s another reason not to be dropping costly munitions on drug boats: It’s probably not an effective strategy. First, because Venezuela does not appear to play much of a role in the production of fentanyl, which is mostly smuggled in through Mexico, but also because such supplies are better halted through traditional interdiction by the U.S. Coast Guard. 

Drug cartels are out to make money. You want to stop them❓ 

You make arrests and seize their boats and, in the process, prove to skeptical Americans that this is not all a smokescreen. But, Donald Trump and his evil hangnam Pete Hegseth would rather create uncessary deaths, because dead smugglers tell no tales.

Peter Jensen is an editorial writer at The Baltimore Sun.