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Saturday, November 01, 2025

DoD officials do not know precisely who they have killed in multiple military strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean that have claimed the lives of at least 57 people, according to Democratic lawmakers who attended a classified House briefing on the issue Thursday.

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"The people in those boats may or may not have been criminals. The people ordering the strikes are." www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-targ ...

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-- The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) Oct 31, 2025 at 10:00 PM

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#1 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-10-31 11:59 PM | Reply

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk:

"Airstrikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific violate international human rights law.

Over 60 people have reportedly been killed in a continuing series of attacks carried out by US armed forces against boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific since early September, in circumstances that find no justification in international law.

These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable. The US must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them."

Source: www.ohchr.org

#2 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS at 2025-11-01 01:21 AM | Reply

ABK.

#3 | Posted by fresno500 at 2025-11-01 05:31 AM | Reply

... DoD officials do not know precisely who they have killed in multiple military strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean that have claimed the lives of at least 57 people, ...

At What Point Does This Cross a Line Into International Criminality?'
www.politico.com

... An expert on international law weighs in on the legality and global implications of the Trump administration's drug boat killings. ...

#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 12:43 PM | Reply

Don't you mean DOW?

#5 | Posted by TFDNihilist at 2025-11-01 05:02 PM | Reply

@#5 ... Don't you mean DOW? ...

I prefer the official name.

:)

#6 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 07:53 PM | Reply

US senators want answers on 'anti-drug' strategy as Venezuela tensions rise
www.reuters.com

... Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said on Friday the Trump administration had yet to provide details of its operations against drug cartels and their legal basis they had sought.

U.S. strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific have killed dozens of people since early September, raising tension between Washington and Caracas.

In a rare bipartisan action on the strikes, Republican Senator Roger Wicker and Democrat Jack Reed said in a statement hey had not received information sought from the administration about its strategy to fight drug cartels.
Wicker, of Mississippi, is the chairman and Reed, of Rhode Island, is the top Democrat on the committee, which oversees the U.S. military. ...


#7 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 07:55 PM | Reply

@#7

Yeah, but with Spkr Johnson keeping the House out of session because of the Epstein files, Congress is effectively an ineffective branch of Congress.

Just as Pres Trump seems to like it to be.

#8 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 07:56 PM | Reply

Calling it DOD? Might as well say Ministry of Peace. The War department does War.

#9 | Posted by visitor_ at 2025-11-01 08:20 PM | Reply

They killed a bunch of drug dealers

DUHHHH

#10 | Posted by THEBULL at 2025-11-01 08:26 PM | Reply

#10

Oh, good, you have proof of that... let's see it.

#11 | Posted by Corky at 2025-11-01 08:28 PM | Reply

They killed a bunch of drug dealers
DUHHHH

#10 | Posted by THEBUL

Under no recognizable law is that legal then.

#12 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 08:34 PM | Reply

@#9 ... Might as well say Ministry of Peace. ...

No, I'll stay with the official name, the Department of Defense.

#13 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 08:34 PM | Reply

"They killed a bunch of drug dealers"

And you're okay with the government executing people, with no charges filed, no trial.
Who do you hope they kill next?

#14 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-11-01 08:37 PM | Reply

Eff off, jackasses 9 and 10. Lowlife scum

#15 | Posted by cbob at 2025-11-01 08:38 PM | Reply

Boys Don't Cry - I Want To Be A Cowboy (1985)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
[Verse 1: Nick Richards]
Riding on the range
I've got my hat on
I've got my boots dusty
I've got my saddle on my horse
He's called (T-T-T-T-T-Trigger)
Of course

[Chorus: Nick Richards]
I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy

[Verse 2: Heidi Lea & Nick Richards]
Riding on the chuck wagon
Following my man
His name is Ted
Can you believe that?
(Ted, oh, Ted! Fighting off danger)
Camping on the prairie
Plays havoc with my hair
Makes me feel quite dirty
Though we all do sometimes
(Ted gets so dirty)

[Chorus: Nick Richards]
I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy

[Guitar Solo]

[Verse 3: Nick Richards]
Looking like a hero
Six-gun at my side
Chewing my tobacco
(Whip crack, away, whip crack, away, whip)
Out on the horizon
I see a puff of smoke
Indians on the warpath
(White man speaking with forked tongue, isn't it?)
Or not

[Chorus: Nick Richards]
I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy
And you can be my cowgirl
I wanna be a cowboy
...


#16 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 09:29 PM | Reply


And you're okay with the government executing people, with no charges filed, no trial.
Who do you hope they kill next?

#14 | POSTED BY SNOOFY

This is the typical over generaliztion that indicates Snoofy is pretty much an idiot.

The smarter you are the more distinctions one can articulate, all snoofy does is generalize, hoping to "make a point", "gotcha".


Oh, good, you have proof of that... let's see it.
#11 | POSTED BY CORKY

You don't need it, it falls under foreign policy, which the President is in charge of, with the exception of treaties, not the constitution and due process citizens recieve. Obama even extended this to citizens in certain situations..

But this falls under Piracy and Smuggling. Good article.

Since the mid-twentieth century, U.S. Supreme Court case law and government practice have coalesced around the view that U.S. citizens carry their constitutional rights with them globally.7 But with regard to noncitizens, the law and practice are very different. The Supreme Court did not start opining on this issue until the latter part of the nineteenth century, but once it did, the Court repeatedly stated that noncitizens abroad were outside the protection of the Constitution.8
repository.law.umich.edu

#17 | Posted by oneironaut at 2025-11-01 10:18 PM | Reply


Under no recognizable law is that legal then.
#12 | POSTED BY TRUTHHURTS

Piracy and Smuggling. Again READ. You're so far over your skiis.

#18 | Posted by oneironaut at 2025-11-01 10:19 PM | Reply

So you're saying the President can order the killing of any person located outside of the Untied States, for any reason, or for no reason whatsoever.

#19 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-11-01 10:20 PM | Reply

Under no recognizable law is that legal then.
#12 | POSTED BY TRUTHHURTS

Piracy and Smuggling. Again READ. You're so far over your skiis.

#18 | Posted by oneironaut a

Not
Capital
Crimes
Moron

#20 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 10:23 PM | Reply

Piracy and Smuggling. Again READ. You're so far over your skiis.

#18 | Posted by oneironaut

What US or international law permits the US military to kill, without warning, people suspected of smuggling drugs?

#21 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 10:28 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Buh Bye

#22 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 10:28 PM | Reply

What US or international law permits the US military to kill, without warning, people suspected of smuggling drugs?
#21 | Posted by truthhurts

They're all cowards. They will never answer.

#23 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-11-01 10:29 PM | Reply

What US or international law permits the US military to kill, without warning, people suspected of smuggling drugs?

The Pentagon's $1Trillion budget?

#24 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-11-01 10:33 PM | Reply

Oneironut punked himself again.

He will never answer #21.

#25 | Posted by Alexandrite at 2025-11-01 10:46 PM | Reply

@#18 ... Piracy and Smuggling. Again READ. You're so far over your skiis. ...

Perhaps your current trolling alias should take its own advice?

Nothing in the article it cited showed me that the President has the absolute right to execute people without a trial because of a suspected crime.

What else it got?

#26 | Posted by lamplighter at 2025-11-01 10:46 PM | Reply

The curious thing to me about these boats is, why are they still going out there? Do the cartels just call it the cost of doing business because it is a small/acceptable percentage of the total number of boats? Or are they just decoys?

#27 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-11-01 10:56 PM | Reply

"The curious thing to me about these boats is, why are they still going out there?"

Well, we know at least one was a fishing boat, so...

#28 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-11-01 10:57 PM | Reply

The curious thing to me about these boats is, why are they still going out there? Do the cartels just call it the cost of doing business because it is a small/acceptable percentage of the total number of boats? Or are they just decoys?

#27 | Posted by REDIAL

One thing we know for certain is cartels will soon be putting children on these boats, so there is that.

#29 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 11:00 PM | Reply

@#27 ... Do the cartels just call it the cost of doing business ...

Venezuelan fishermen in fear after US strikes on boats in the Caribbean (October 16, 2025)
www.bbc.com

... Wilder Fernndez has caught four good-sized fish in the murky waters of a small bay north of Lake Maracaibo.

The contents of his net will serve as dinner for his small team before they set out to go fishing again in the evening.

But this daily task is a job he has recently become scared of doing.

After 13 years as a fisherman, Mr Fernndez confesses that he now fears his job could turn lethal.

He is afraid he could die in these waters not at the hands of a night-time attacker -- a threat fishermen like him encountered in the past -- but rather, killed in a strike launched by a foreign power.

"It's crazy, man," he says of the deployment of US warships, fighter jets, a submarine and thousands of US troops in waters north of Venezuela's coast. ...



#30 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 11:01 PM | Reply

The curious thing to me about these boats is, why are they still going out there? Do the cartels just call it the cost of doing business because it is a small/acceptable percentage of the total number of boats? Or are they just decoys?

#27 | Posted by REDIAL

We have NO idea what or who is on these boats.

Given this administration sent hundreds of innocent people to an El Salvadoran gulag, it is fairly certain that some or most of these boats are not involved in drug smuggling.

#31 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 11:01 PM | Reply

Well, we know at least one was a fishing boat, so...

That is another good question, where exactly are these boats supposed to be going?

#32 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-11-01 11:02 PM | Reply

Early reports on the first boat destroyed were that it had turned back upon sighting a drone.

Since they are speed boats and have a very limited range the target was reportedly trinidad

#33 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 11:06 PM | Reply

@#32 ... where exactly are these boats supposed to be going? ...

Well, for fishing boats, I'd say ... they are going where they think the fish are.


#34 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 11:07 PM | Reply

Again, the reporting on at least one of the attacks was that after the initial attack there were survivors (on a wrecked boat) and the navy took another run at it to kill the shipwrecked survivors.

That is VERY similar to what a nazi U-boat commander was tried for at Nuremburg-killing shipwrecked merchantmen.

It is despicable to kill a shipwrecked person.

#35 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 11:08 PM | Reply

@#33 ... Early reports on the first boat destroyed were that it had turned back upon sighting a drone. ...

If you're out on the ocean (for whatever reason), and suddenly you see this aircraft apparently targeting you, what do you do?

I'd return to the safety of port.

But that's just me.


#36 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 11:10 PM | Reply

Since they are speed boats and have a very limited range the target was reportedly trinidad

That kind of what I thought. They don't look like they can go very far. Any idea what kind of boats they are? I have never seen anything that long with the helm so far aft.

#37 | Posted by REDIAL at 2025-11-01 11:12 PM | Reply

I don't know the first thing about boats

But I will say from a cargo capacity size they do not seem like the best drug smuggling vessels, and the first boat destroyed had like 14 people aboard, so likely not a drug smuggling operation. Might have been human trafficking but who knows.

that is why you arrest people and don't just kill them.

#38 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 11:14 PM | Reply

Renaissance - At The Harbor (1973)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
Out at daybreak to the sun
Seas are drifting glass
The tides were turning to the storm
Winds were moving fast
Women waiting at the harbour
Silent stand around
Weather storms another day
For men the sea had found

Fishermen were laying nets
The barrels spread the bait
The seagulls warning echoed round
Winds that wouldn't wait
People gathered at the harbour
Waiting for the tide
Eyes half closed against the spray
And tears they cannot hide

Shadows falling at the harbour
Women stand around
Weather storms another way
For men the sea have drowned

Hulls were creaking crashing sails
Rains were slating down
The oilskins flapping, decks awash
Slanting turning round
Thunder roaring at the harbour
Women drawn in fear
Huddle up to wait the time
And pray the sky will clear

Howling winds and the raging waves
Cracked upon the boats
And torn from safety, torn from life
Men with little hope
Ghostly echoes at the harbour
Whispering of death
Women weeping holding hands
Of those they still have left
...


#39 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 11:15 PM | Reply

@#33 ... Early reports on the first boat destroyed were that it had turned back upon sighting a drone. ...
If you're out on the ocean (for whatever reason), and suddenly you see this aircraft apparently targeting you, what do you do?
I'd return to the safety of port.
But that's just me.

#36 | Posted by LampLighter

All of the reporting gives me little comfort that the military will refuse to obey illegal orders. the illegality of these killings is so obvious as to be absurd.

Everyone in the chain of command from Hegseth to the person pulling the trigger should be charged with murder.

#40 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 11:15 PM | Reply

@#38 ... that is why you arrest people and don't just kill them. ...

Agree 100%.

#41 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 11:16 PM | Reply

Republicans voters love it when Trump kills brown people.
They don't even ask why.
They just cheer.

#42 | Posted by snoofy at 2025-11-01 11:16 PM | Reply

I've been listening to a number of podcasts about the legality of following orders and not following orders. Rather interesting, and disturbing, especially the whole "start from the assumption the order is legal" thing. These killings are so obviously illegal, yet no one is refusing shows the base cowardice in the military that is wrapped in "honor" and "duty"

Again, where are the resignations over this? One early retirement and he is not going before cameras to say what is happening.

Where are the marine and army and national guard officers refusing orders to police US cities?

If you think the military won't fire on US citizens you are fooling yourself.

#43 | Posted by truthhurts at 2025-11-01 11:19 PM | Reply

@#43 ... These killings are so obviously illegal, yet no one is refusing shows the base cowardice in the military that is wrapped in "honor" and "duty" ...

Now look at Pres Trump's stated intent to deploy and train the military in the US, train the military upon US citizens.


Then look at this thread ...

Are We Losing Our Democracy?
drudge.com


#44 | Posted by LampLighter at 2025-11-01 11:29 PM | Reply

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