USA offshore military strikes on boats

[NewCreation435]

I'm sure many of you have heard that this present administration is allowing the military to strike boats that they think may be carrying shipments of drugs into the country. Recently, there was one ship that was struck not once but twice in order to kill survivors of the first strike. I wonder what people on here think about that.
Why not just rescue those that survived and try them for their crimes in shipping drugs? Where is the due process?

Timeline: US strikes on alleged drug boats

Since September, President Donald Trump has ordered strikes against what he alleges are drug boats from South America. Here's a timeline.

abcnews.go.com

 

[Frankj]

There is a claim that they were hit twice to kill survivors but from what I understand the first strike didn't destroy the ship and a second strike was conducted to finish it off with survivors being irrelevant to it.

In any event, I don't expect any actual truth to come from the very anti-Trump legacy media.

But my real question is why this isn't classified information since it involves military operations that I would expect to have secret operational details, why did they release this in the first place?

 

[Lamb]

There is a claim that they were hit twice to kill survivors but from what I understand the first strike didn't destroy the ship and a second strike was conducted to finish it off with survivors being irrelevant to it.

In any event, I don't expect any actual truth to come from the very anti-Trump legacy media.

But my real question is why this isn't classified information since it involves military operations that I would expect to have secret operational details, why did they release this in the first place?

That was my understanding too, that the mission was to destroy the ship (with the drugs) and the first mission failed, which is why they needed to launch another strike in order to complete the mission. It wasn't to kill survivors, that's the spin of the legacy media.

 

[Plato]

It's quite common when bombing a building or similar with designated combatants inside. It's called a 'double tap'. It's controversial, but hey, they shouldn't be transporting substances that will be misused and risk American lives.

 

[Maranatha]

There is a lot more to it
From the article:

"The Trump administration has alleged with little evidence that the boats were smuggling drugs from Venezuela and Colombia. The campaign so far has killed more than 80 alleged drug runners, according to officials..."
"Venezuelan and Colombian leaders have refuted the administration's grounds for the attacks and slammed Trump for his military action..."

Here is a related article:

Legality of US military activity around Venezuela is 'questionable,' Sen. Mark Kelly says

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly said the Trump administration’s sending aircraft carrier battle group to waters around Central and South America is “questionable.”

abcnews.go.com

"Legality of US military activity around Venezuela is 'questionable..."
I think this is putting it very mildly.

"You don't move a battlegroup all the way from where it was to the Caribbean. Unless you're planning on either to intimidate the country, which is rather intimidating, or you're going to start conducting combat operations in Venezuela. And this doesn't make the United States more safe. This makes us less safe. I mean, starting a war against Venezuela over what is a law enforcement action does not make any sense," Kelly said.

Watch this space...

 

[NewCreation435]

There is a claim that they were hit twice to kill survivors but from what I understand the first strike didn't destroy the ship and a second strike was conducted to finish it off with survivors being irrelevant to it.

In any event, I don't expect any actual truth to come from the very anti-Trump legacy media.

But my real question is why this isn't classified information since it involves military operations that I would expect to have secret operational details, why did they release this in the first place?

Yes you have a point about why this isn't classified. I don't know the answer to that.
Why would survivors be irrelevant to it?

 

[Frankj]

Yes you have a point about why this isn't classified. I don't know the answer to that.
Why would survivors be irrelevant to it?

Because it would have been done {a second strike) if there were survivors or not since the boat was not destroyed and the mission was to destroy it.

Latest info I hear on radio is that those still on the boat -survivors- were in communication with others and trying to save the drugs so this story may be pretty much a distorted report meant to achieve political agenda goals of the MSM reporters and organizations.

 

[NewCreation435]

Because it would have been done {a second strike) if there were survivors or not since the boat was not destroyed and the mission was to destroy it.

Latest info I hear on radio is that those still on the boat -survivors- were in communication with others and trying to save the drugs so this story may be pretty much a distorted report meant to achieve political agenda goals of the MSM reporters and organizations.

I would have liked to see them try to save the survivors and try them in a court of law rather than killing them. I have heard several different stories including one report that they survived for a hour before the second attack on the boat. Why couldn't the military have simply picked them up?

 

[Frankj]

I have heard several different stories including one report that they survived for a hour before the second attack on the boat.

I hear all kinds of stories, but trying to validate them is usually impossible leaving them as simply stories. What is the source of your stories and have you tried to validate them for truthfulness?

 

[jswauto]

Lethal Military Strikes Against Known Venezuelan and Other Drug Vessels

The most substantial recent news on Caribbean drug speedboat interdictions centers on U.S. military strikes in September 2025, when American forces destroyed suspected Venezuelan narco‑trafficking vessels. These operations marked a sharp escalation from traditional Coast Guard interdictions to direct military action.

Key Incident: September 2, 2025
• Location: Southern Caribbean, international waters.
• Action: A U.S. precision strike destroyed a suspected drug‑smuggling speedboat.
• Casualties: 11 people on board were killed.
• Target: The crew was alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang designated by the U.S. as a Foreign Terrorist Organization earlier in 2025.
• Announcement: President Trump publicly confirmed the strike, sharing drone footage of the vessel engulfed in flames.

Shift in Strategy
• Traditional Approach: For decades, the U.S. Coast Guard handled maritime drug interdictions with law enforcement methods — warning shots, disabling fire, boarding, arrests, and extradition.
• New Approach: The September 2025 strike represented a military escalation, bypassing arrest and trial, and instead using lethal force against suspected traffickers.
• Legal Questions: Analysts raised concerns about whether such strikes constitute extrajudicial killings, whether they comply with international law, and whether the executive branch has authority without congressional oversight.

Broader Campaign
• Series of Strikes: By late 2025, U.S. forces had carried out at least 14 strikes across Caribbean and Pacific waters, destroying 17 vessels.
• Casualties: Reports indicate 61 people killed in these interdictions.
• Venezuelan Connection: At least three of the Caribbean vessels were confirmed to have departed Venezuela.
• Strategic Goal: To disrupt maritime drug routes that move cocaine (often later mixed with fentanyl) from South America into North America and Europe.

Global Drug Interdiction Highlights (2025)
Caribbean & Latin America
• Haiti (July 2025):
• Record seizure of 1,045 kg of cocaine near Île de la Tortue.
• Followed by 426 kg of cannabis confiscated in Petite-Anse.
• Two Haitians arrested in Jamaica with 1,350 kg of cannabis.
• Belgian authorities later seized 1,156 kg of cocaine in Antwerp from a container originating in Haiti.
• U.S. Coast Guard (Eastern Pacific):
• Multiple interdictions of “go-fast” boats and semi-submersibles.
• Recent operations offloaded 45,600 pounds of narcotics worth over $517 million at Port Everglades, Florida.

Summary
The Caribbean speedboat interdictions in 2025 were not routine Coast Guard seizures but lethal military strikes against known Venezuelan, Columbian and all other drug vessels. They killed dozens of traffickers, destroyed multiple boats, and marked a new phase in U.S. counter‑narcotics strategy — one that raises both strategic leverage and legal positioning.

 

[Maranatha]

The plot thickens...

"the family of a fisherman from Colombia has filed the first legal challenge to the military strikes. In a petition filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the family says a strike on September 15 killed 42-year-old Alejandro Andres Carranza Medina, a fisherman from Santa Marta and father of four. His family says he was fishing for tuna and marlin off Colombia’s Caribbean coast when his boat was bombed, and was not smuggling drugs.“Alejandro was murdered,” says international human rights attorney Dan Kovalik, who filed the legal petition on behalf of the family.
“This is not how a civilized nation should act, just murdering people on the high seas without proof, without trial.”
From Democracy Now

 

[NewCreation435]

The plot thickens...

"the family of a fisherman from Colombia has filed the first legal challenge to the military strikes. In a petition filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the family says a strike on September 15 killed 42-year-old Alejandro Andres Carranza Medina, a fisherman from Santa Marta and father of four. His family says he was fishing for tuna and marlin off Colombia’s Caribbean coast when his boat was bombed, and was not smuggling drugs.“Alejandro was murdered,” says international human rights attorney Dan Kovalik, who filed the legal petition on behalf of the family.
“This is not how a civilized nation should act, just murdering people on the high seas without proof, without trial.”
From Democracy Now

I agree. Just because a person is a bad person doesn't mean they don't have rights and a right to due process. Even if they are doing bad things

 

[Gordon Zhao]

We should suppose this is not permitted by God, as this kind of strikes have huge potential to end the victims’ lives.

 

[Frankj]

We should suppose this is not permitted by God, as this kind of strikes have huge potential to end the victims’ lives.

Does God forbid the protections of others from deadly threats?

This is the purpose of these strikes, to protect people from the deadly trade they, those you refer to as victims, engage in, a trade that claims untold lives as they ply it.

I suggest that if they are victims they are victims of their own evil endeavors.

 

[Maranatha]

This is the purpose of these strikes, to protect people from the deadly trade they, those you refer to as victims, engage in

If the purpose is to protect people then they still have to do it within national and international laws.
They should provide proper proof, take those "bad guys" to court and follow proper process.
In a Civilised world people are "innocent till proven guilty"

The US has every right to protect its own borders, but they should keep within its borders.
But they should not try and cause another regime change.
This will ultimately lead to a bigger war again where many more innocent lives will be lost.

From the Guardien:
The comments come after the US seized a “dark fleet” tanker named the Skipper off the coast of Venezuela, sparking concerns among some US lawmakers that Trump is “sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela”.

History just keeps repeating itself

 

[Maranatha]

But they (US) should not try and cause another regime change.
This will ultimately lead to a bigger war again where many more innocent lives will be lost.

Now we have a Regime change in Venezuela and a new war as predicted

History just keeps repeating itself

President Trump confirmed in a interview on Fox news that it is about oil.
Exactly as we have seen many times in recent history.

The other Superpowers will also get involved and we ill soon have a full scale war.

And everyone wants "World peace" in 2026.
Help us Lord !

 

[Frankj]

Now we have a Regime change in Venezuela and a new war as predicted

President Trump confirmed in a interview on Fox news that it is about oil.
Exactly as we have seen many times in recent history.

The other Superpowers will also get involved and we ill soon have a full scale war.

And everyone wants "World peace" in 2026.
Help us Lord !

FWIW, we may have the opposite of a new war, it seems that a belligerent threatening one is now no longer making war threats against us and who ends up in power will likely be supported by the people instead of an illegitimately elected dictator and may want to return to being a something else, and probably, IMO, want much better relations with the US.

Also FWIW, American companies operating in Venezuela had their assets mostly stolen under Hugo Chavez without compensation when he nationalized the oil fields. Whether it is our right to reclaim them or demand compensation is a matter of some debate according to various political leanings.

 

[Frankj]

If the purpose is to protect people then they still have to do it within national and international laws.
They should provide proper proof, take those "bad guys" to court and follow proper process.
In a Civilised world people are "innocent till proven guilty"

That's what has been and is being done.

BTW, 'innocent until proven guilty' is not a common standard in the civilized world, most people do not live under this standard at all.

 

[jswauto]

No more VENEZUELAN drug boats to blow up!

 

[Lamb]

When I first read about the incident today, I got mad, but that's because the legacy media wrote it that way...to make me hate what the administration was doing. But then I read up on the history and realized that wow, that "President" in Venezuela wasn't a legitimate one in the first place. The people in that country are celebrating their new freedom.