20 U.S. Boat Strikes in Three Months

"The MO rarely changes: a bellicose announcement from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Claims that the dead were involved in drug trafficking, though never much evidence to back it up. Usually a grainy image of the attack-an enormous explosion engulfing a small boat, sometimes with small figures visible on board, until they're not. Since the first of these strikes, in early September, there have been 19 more that we know of."

"Hegseth portrays the situation as simple. "To all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland: if you want to stay alive, stop trafficking drugs," he wrote on X last week. "If you keep trafficking deadly drugs-we will kill you." Nearly every part of this statement demands skepticism. First, the Pentagon has not generally provided evidence for its claims, other than to cite "intelligence," and the administration's pattern of misleading and outright lying makes it hard to give it the benefit of the doubt."

U.S. forces have carried out at least twenty maritime strikes in Caribbean and Pacific waters since early September, killing multiple people. The strikes are accompanied by forceful public announcements, claims that the dead were involved in drug trafficking, and grainy images of explosions destroying small boats. Fifteen of the strikes occurred in the past month, signaling an accelerated tempo. The Pentagon has cited "intelligence" but provided little public evidence. Repetition has normalized the attacks while legal, ethical, and evidentiary questions about extrajudicial killings and potential misleading claims remain unresolved.

Read at The Atlantic