Trump keeps murdering fishermen and calling it policy

Mugshots of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump

The Trump administration is blowing up boats in the Caribbean again and insisting it is a war, even though the only thing declared is the Orange Menace’s desire to kill. Another four people are dead at sea with no evidence they were anything more than unlucky targets caught in the path of Operation Southern Spear.

Trump administration officials have provided little evidence for their claims that the people killed on the boats were smuggling narcotics. The officials say the boats have been in international waters.

A wide range of specialists in laws governing the use of force have denounced the killings as illegal because the U.S. military is not allowed to intentionally target civilians who pose no threat of imminent violence, even those suspected of being criminals. The administration maintains the strikes are lawful because President Trump has “determined” that the United States is in a formal armed conflict with drug cartels.

American allies have also challenged the administration’s narrative and rationale. Britain has stopped sharing intelligence with the United States about possible drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in the U.S. military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, according to a senior Western official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic and intelligence matters.

New York Times

Britain has already backed away from the whole thing to avoid helping the United States vaporize civilians in international waters. Legal scholars are calling the strikes illegal, but the administration continues to announce them, much like a birthday greeting. At the same time, a carrier group circles the region, like a shark hungry for more.