Americans are REALLY NOT Happy with the actions that Trump/Hegseth has embarked on….
The reports of warships attacked unarmed boats, even some with drugs in International waters is NOT playing well and is probably illegal something Trump of course has NO problem with….
A majority of U.S. adults oppose the U.S. military killing suspected drug traffickers without judicial process, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos pollreleased Friday.
Why it matters: The Trump administration has carried out months of extrajudicial killings of dozens of alleged “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean and East Pacific Ocean. The strikes, which Congress has not authorized, have drawn bipartisan condemnation from lawmakers and Latin American leaders.
By the numbers: 29% of Americans said they supported the military killings without the involvement of a judge or court.
- A majority (51%) said they were opposed. The rest were unsure.
- Approval was split among party lines: 58% of Republicans and 8% of Democrats said they supported the approach.
The big picture: The Trump administration has killed at least 80 people in 20 drone strikes since early September.
- The president is reportedly considering expanding the strikes to land targets, the Washington Post reports.
- The strikes have coincided with significant military buildup in the region intended to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
- “Blowing drug-laden boats out of the water, killing their crews in the process, may thrill some of our leaders, but it will not destabilize Maduro,” former national security a. dviser John Bolton wrote in a Washington Post op-ed this week…..
…
A Questionable rational for Trump’s Policy…
A secret Justice Department memo blessing President Trump’s boat strikes as lawful hangs on the idea that the United States and its allies are legally in a state of armed conflict with drug cartels, a premise that derives heavily from assertions that the White House itself has put forward, according to people who have read it.
The memo from the department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which is said to be more than 40 pages long, signed off on a military campaign that has now killed 80 people in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. It said such extrajudicial killings of people suspected of running drugs were lawful as a matter of Mr. Trump’s wartime powers.
In reaching that conclusion, the memo contradicts a broad range of critics, who have rejected the idea that there is any armed conflict and have accused Mr. Trump of illegally ordering the military to commit murders.
The administration has insisted that Mr. Trump has the authority to lawfully order the strikes under the laws of war, but it has provided scant public details about its legal analysis to buttress that conclusion. The accounts of the memo offer a window into how executive branch lawyers signed off on Mr. Trump’s desired course of action, including appearing to have accepted at face value the White House’s version of reality….
Family of Fisherman Killed in U.S. Military Strike Says It Wants Justice
Colombia was a top U.S. ally in Latin America until the Trump administration began deadly strikes in international waters. Now, one family wants justice.
…
The attacks have enraged [Columbia President] Mr. Petro, who accused the United States of murdering Mr. Carranza in one attack. President Trump responded by imposing sanctions on Mr. Petro and his family and moving to slash aid to the country. This week, Colombia suspended intelligence sharing with the United States until the Trump administration stops its strikes.
The Trump administration claims the attacks occurred on boats carrying illicit drugs that kill thousands of Americans. But many legal experts in the United States and elsewhere say the strikes violate international law because those killed, even if they had been suspected of committing any crimes, did not present an immediate threat.
Mangled bodies have begun washing up on the beaches of Trinidad and Tobago after U.S. strikes in the region. The only two known survivors of the strikes are not from Venezuela, but Colombia and Ecuador….
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.