1 week ago Trump latest: US military kills four in strike on another alleged drug boat after president attacks Biden in TV address

Latest deadly strike in eastern Pacific announced as President Donald Trump continues to blame predecessor Joe Biden for the state of the U.S. economy after almost a year in power

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1 week ago US strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific kills four, as Trump accuses Venezuela of taking ‘our oil’

The announcement from Pete Hegseth comes a day after Trump issued a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving VenezuelaThe US military carried out a lethal strike on a vessel it said was engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, according to defense secretary Pete Hegseth, as Trump further ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela, accusing the country of taking US oil.On Wednesday Hegseth said the “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel engaged in “narco-trafficking operations” had killed four people. The latest strike in the Pacific brings the death toll to 99 since the US began its campaign of striking alleged drug-trafficking boats in September. Continue reading...

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1 week ago US military strikes another alleged drug boat in eastern Pacific, killing 4

This occurred the same day the House rejected efforts to limit Trump’s power to use military force against cartels

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1 week ago US military says strike on alleged drug boat kills 4 in eastern Pacific

The U.S. military says it attacked a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing four people

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2 w. ago Inside the tense moment an admiral decided to attack two shipwrecked passengers of a ‘drug boat’ and spark cries of war crimes

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said he didn’t watch the follow-up strikes — a claim that has prompted some lawmakers to ask for his calendar

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2 w. ago All of the suspected drug boat killings are murders | Kenneth Roth

There is no rule of law if the president can deem anyone an enemy combatant and order them summarily shotThe largely supine Republicans in Congress had no apparent trouble as Donald Trump and defense secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the killing of suspected drug runners off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. But suddenly they are up in arms because the Washington Post reported on 28 November about one incident, a double-tap strike, in which the US military finished off two survivors of an attack.Tempted as I am to accept whatever it takes to spark some minimal scrutiny of these summary executions, I hope this unexpected opening prompts broader investigation of this entire series of murders, which have now claimed 87 victims in 22 attacks. As Democrats join in, there are some indications that this expanded scrutiny may be finally beginning.Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch (1993-2022), is a visiting professor at Princeton’s School of Public and Internatio...

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2 w. ago The Latest: Hegseth tells congressional leaders he is weighing release of boat strike video

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is weighing whether to release the full video of an attack on an alleged drug boat that legal experts said may have been a war crime or murder, awakening the Republican-controlled Congress to its oversight role

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2 w. ago Laura Loomer contradicts Trump administration on deadly ‘narco boat’ strikes

Far-right activist points out that evidence suggests a large portion of the fentanyl entering the U.S. comes from Mexico – not from Venezuela

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3 w. ago Democrats urge Pentagon to release video of strike on alleged drug boat

Trump team faces mounting pressure as members of Congress allege that the deadly attack was unlawfulUS Democrats on Sunday pushed the Trump administration to release video of a second strike on an alleged drug boat incapacitated in the Caribbean, continuing to escalate pressure on the Pentagon amid accusations the attack was unlawful.Eleven people died in the 2 September attack, including two men killed in a follow-up strike as they reportedly clung to wreckage for an hour. That killing has been met with intense scrutiny and accusations of war crimes after the Washington Post reported defense secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill them all”. Adm Frank Bradley of the US navy, who oversaw the attack, told lawmakers on Thursday there was no such order – and the Pentagon has defended the legality of the attack. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Admiral tells lawmakers that all 11 people on alleged drug boat hit by double

The double-tap strike against the alleged drug vessel has been at the center of a growing controversy

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3 w. ago Secret intelligence from controversial drug boat strikes 'reveals why all 11 onboard were killed' as Pete Hegseth makes first public remarks on operation

The attack was the Trump administration's first bombing in its two-month campaign in the Caribbean which has seen 14 boats blown up.

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3 w. ago Hegseth won’t commit to releasing video of second strike on drug boat — and doesn’t have ‘any regrets’ over Signal controversy

"Whatever we were to decide to release, we'd have to be very responsible about reviewing that right now,” Hegseth said.

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3 w. ago Hegseth gives defiant speech defending ‘drug boat’ strikes amid scrutiny

At event in California, US defense secretary says Trump has power to take military action ‘as he sees fit’Pete Hegseth on Saturday doubled down on his defense of US military strikes on alleged drug cartel boats in the Caribbean, arguing that Donald Trump has the power to take military action “as he sees fit” and dismissing concerns that the strikes violate international law.Hegseth spoke on Saturday at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, California, amid growing scrutiny over the legality of the attacks and his leadership of the Pentagon. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Incredible moment Coast Guard sniper takes out drug boat before seizing 20,000 pounds of cocaine

Incredible footage shows the moment a US Coast Guard sniper fired on a drug boat in the Pacific Ocean before seizing more than 20,000 pounds of cocaine.

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3 w. ago Four killed in latest ‘drug boat’ strike as Hegseth faces war crimes accusations

The US military conducted another deadly strike on an alleged drug boat, killing four men on board.

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3 w. ago US airstrike survivors clung to boat wreckage for an hour before second deadly attack, video shows

Footage seen by US senators shows two unarmed, shirtless men struggling to stay afloat before they were killed in follow-up action, sources say Experts say Trump’s ‘drug boat’ war is legally shakyTwo men who survived a US airstrike on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the Caribbean clung to the wreckage for an hour before they were killed in a second attack, according a video of the episode shown to senators in Washington.The men were shirtless, unarmed and carried no visible radio or other communications equipment. They also appeared to have no idea what had just hit them, or that the US military was weighing whether to finish them off, two sources familiar with the recording told Reuters. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Hegseth orders new strike that kills 4 on alleged drug boat amid ‘double tap’ controversy

Attack comes just hours after Admiral Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley briefed concerned lawmakers about the September ‘double tap’ strike

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3 w. ago US military conducts strike on another suspected drug boat as probe into the first strike begins

U.S. Southern Command says it has conducted another strike against a small boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, following a pause of almost three weeks

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3 w. ago Hegseth orders new strike that kills four on alleged drug boat amid ‘double tap’ controversy

The attack comes just hours after Admiral Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley briefed concerned lawmakers about the September ‘double tap’ strike

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3 w. ago Experts urge release of boat strike video as US admiral denies ‘kill them all’ order

Democrat Jim Himes calls footage ‘one of the most troubling scenes’ he’s observed in public serviceAnalysis: Killing of survivors sparks outrage – but entire US ‘drug boat’ war is legally shakyTop Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress on Thursday said that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, had not ordered the military to kill surviving members of a a deadly attack on a boat alleged to be carrying drugs in the Caribbean, but differed over whether the double strike was appropriate.The allegation that Hegseth ordered the killing of survivors sparked bipartisan concern in Washington that he or others involved may have committed a war crime. On Thursday, US navy admiral Frank Bradley, who commanded the attack, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, appeared before the House and Senate’s armed services and intelligence committees for a closed briefing in which they showed video and discussed the attack with lawmakers. Continue reading...

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