• Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    I note the details of this incident are sparse, per the article, yet CBS utterly fails to use the word alleged at all. This is a ‘drug boat’ not an ‘alleged drug boat,’ nor a ‘boat allegedly smuggling drugs.’ Did they even ask what proof the military had before blowing up this ‘drug boat?’

    Is the USA now blowing up any boat at sea that they feel is a drug boat? Isn’t the norm to have the Coast Guard intercept such boats board them, gather evidence, and make arrests? I guess this is the new war on drugs.

    • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      Yes. These are normally handled by the Coast Guard. There’s a reason the Coast Guard vessels are armed. They can more than handle anything a cartel drug boat is carrying. They’re heavily armed enough that most intercepted vessels surrender without a fight. Actually taking fire is extraordinarily rare.

      There is absolutely zero reason to waste US Navy vessels on this. It appears Trump just blew up a random boat that could have easily been intercepted. Even assuming it is a drug boat, this attack is completely detrimental to fighting the drug trade. If you intercept the vessel, you can interrogate the crew, gather evidence from the vessel, and help crack the cartel network they are a part of. But you can’t do any of that with a corpse-filled wreck on the bottom of the ocean.

      • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        Yep. I’m pretty sure that Trump is on a full on murderous power trip. He likes being able to order people killed. Remember when he took out a full page ad demanding that the Central Park 5 be executed for their crimes? The ad said, in part:

        Mayor Koch has stated that hate and rancor should be removed from our hearts. I do not think so. I want to hate these muggers and murderers… They should be forced to suffer and, when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes. They must serve as examples so that others will think long and hard before committing a crime or an act of violence. Yes, Mayor Koch, I want to hate these murderers and I always will. I am not looking to psychoanalyze or understand them, I am looking to punish them. If the punishment is strong, the attacks on innocent people will stop. - Donald Trump

        They were innocent, by the way.

        It wasn’t until 2002 that the five men were exonerated after convicted rapist and murderer Matias Reyes confessed to the crime. Reyes’ DNA matched the sample found on Meili.

        Here is another example of his love of killing people. Did you know that since 1976, only 16 people have been executed by the federal government. Two in 2001. One in 2003. The other 13 were executed in 2020 and 2021 when then President Trump learned he could expedite their executions.

        Expect a lot more blood from this man now that he can and is ordering the military to wantonly spill it.

    • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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      4 days ago

      Why is the Secretary of State even the one making a statement? Was Hegseth too drunk?

  • commander@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    This isn’t the 80s, I don’t think people are buying into the war on drugs facade masking imperialism as much as they used to. Drugs flow along the pacific. Venezuela is small fries for drug trafficking. This is absolutely reasserting imperial interest in Latin America and Venezuela being the most prominent non-US aligned country at the moment in Latin America. If the US acts stupid and tries to false flag themselves into a regime change invasion, it’ll be more of a clusterfuck than Afghanistan. No doubt in my mind nonsense in Venezuela would spark something in Colombia and I doubt Brazil would want the US to win either

    • ruuster13@lemmy.zip
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      4 days ago

      He needs a war so he can declare martial law so he can cancel elections. Venezuela is just low-hanging fruit.

    • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      It wouldn’t push Venezuelans to not want whoever reforms them once the U.S. scuffle is over to not join BRICS as well, and move away from the U.S. dollar. They already wanted in now if I remember, but Brazil vetoed it.

      • commander@lemmy.world
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        4 days ago

        Whatever opposition there was against Maduro, the US is ruining it for them. Instead Venezuela gets a clear view of the regional existential threat, further motivation to modernize its military and build non-US aligned trade. They’re shaping up to be, and getting help from the US in drumming up motivation, the Americas Iran but they can’t be boogyman’ed as Muslims