Former military lawyers are speaking out against President Donald Trump’s recent attacks on boats that were said to be carrying drugs from Venezuela. The strikes have killed at least 17 people across three different incidents in the Caribbean since early September. Trump has called those killed “narcoterrorists” and said they were bringing illegal drugs toward the United States.
The strikes show a big change from how the U.S. has dealt with drug boats at sea for many years. Instead of stopping and searching boats they think have drugs, military forces have been told to blow them up completely. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said more attacks could happen, warning drug cartels the U.S. would “track them, kill them, and dismantle their networks throughout our hemisphere.”
