Drug Strike Drawing Fire
As we all know, the current administration is taking a fairly hard line on drug smuggling craft, and blowing them out of the water. Despite those who claim “but they could just be fishing boats” (sorry, normal fishing boats carry actual fishing gear, aren’t powered by multiple large outboards, aren’t spotted with lots and lots of plastic wrapped bales instead of fishermen – you get the picture.) We’ve tagged what, 21 or 22 boats like that? in mid-smuggling.
Me, I am perfectly good with leaving nothing but an oil slick and a few memories. I have advocated in the past for making dealers eat their own fentanyl – why would this be different? – but there are a few accepted conventions in combat, one of which is not executing enemy casualties out of hand. You may recall a fella named Calley who got himself in deep doodoo for that back in Vietnam. We got a bit perturbed when German SS troops executed 84 of ours at a place called Malmady. Killing in an initial blitz or combat is OK. Killing helpless prisoners and injured is not. Not saying it hasn’t happened before, but doing so is a VERY good way to wind up spending some serious time in eastern Kansas. It’s cold there now.
So now we get to the Washington Post report that SecDef Hegseth ordered a couple of drug-boat survivors from the first boat to be executed out of hand September 2d.
The lawmakers said they did not know whether last week’s Washington Post report was true, and some Republicans were skeptical, but they said attacking survivors of an initial missile strike poses serious legal concerns.
Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, when asked about a follow-up strike aimed at people no longer able to fight, said Congress does not have information that happened. He noted that leaders of the Armed Services Committee in both the House and Senate have opened investigations. AP
Absolutely the right course of action – such an allegation can NOT be swept under the carpet. And, in the hoopla over senior Democrats telling troops to disobey illegal orders, this would be their validation: very few orders can be more illegal than “execute the survivors”.
A first missile strike left two survivors, but a Special Operations commander overseeing the attack ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions to “kill everybody,” according to the Post, which cited officials with direct knowledge of the operation.
The attack on September 2 was the first of more than a dozen attacks on alleged drug-running boats that have killed more than 80 people over the last three months. The Independent
According to two individuals with direct knowledge of the operation — who, like five others in the report, spoke on condition of anonymity — the Special Operations commander overseeing the mission ordered a second strike specifically to comply with Hegseth’s instructions. The survivors were killed in the water.Atlanta Black Star
If true, we may need a new SecDef (although most likely if there is blame to be assigned, we all know some poor service member like the commander will be allowed to fall on his sword instead.) But they need to get to the bottom of this allegation quickly… oh, and if the WaPo can’t back up their story, THEY need to suitably chastised. Mr. Trump himself very neatly avoided backing up Hegseth (“he said he didn’t do it” is a pretty thin affirmation) when asked. Mediaite
I suspect his story isn’t going away quickly.
Category: Breaking News
I’ll file this under “secret too big to keep”. If this order was, in fact given, it will out eventually. The longer we don’t hear someone coming forward (to the intense cheers and adoration of the media and Left Wing Establishment) saying I got that order, the less and less likely it is that that order was given.
However, if the order was “-sink- the hostle/enemy/pirate vessel, to prevent salvage or re-use,
then pounding the rubble down to Davy Jones Locker is … an old widely practiced custom.
Note how many “striken/crippled” vessels were finished off in WW2, by all sides. Often after -numerous- re-attacks, and well after a clear abandonment. And the vessels alongside assisting rescue? Fair game too and often attacked with gusto.
Because folk are mostly clueless on “Laws and Customs of War”, and just how far armed forces can actually go.
Funny how much “anonymous” crap is being injected into the latest efforts to overthrow Trump.
Because how effing obvious are they going to get this time?
If they are still alive they can still fight and kill one of our guys. You don’t know if they have a suicide vest or a hand grenade.
I am certainly not willing to risk the lives of our people to satisfy some political correct bullshit. Remember what happened to the two Navy seals in the Red Sea.
Everyone knows we are blowing drug boats up, so if these dudes are still willing to risk it, that means they are hardcore and willing to die fighting us. So, make sure they are dead.
Cartels haven’t used suicide bombers since the 1990s during the open revolt in Columbia. In that era they would send human driven VBIEDs to hit HVTs. The idea of smugglers wearing a vest on the off chance of being boarded and then detonating to avoid being captured alive is a bit over the top.
Could’ve just left them in the water to fend for themselves. Probably were not wearing life vests.
Sharks gotta eat, too.
It’s the ecologically responsible solution.
Nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure….
They missed that pre-deployment safety brief.
Listening to The Chris Plante Show this morning on WMAL. He had a caller who identified as a 30 year Coast Guard veteran who did drug interdictions over the years, and he said the survivors would have succumbed to the cocaine or fentanyl that was dispersed in the initial strike. Consider it a mercy killing.
And no, I am not willing to lose our SECWAR over this stupid bullshit. Circle the wagons!
“Ensure the vessels sink, to prevent salvage of vessel or cargo”
That is lawful and customary.
Or are we now going to prosecute the Navies of each WW2 combatant?
Follow the money.
Oh ffs. If there was any credible evidence or witness this would be screamed all over the Lame Stream Media. That “they” are merely planning bloviating opportunities, er, congressional investigations, means there is neither.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
“Anonymous sources say” usually translates as “pulled from presstitute’s ass” (theirs, or their accomplices. They are not picky about sourcing their buttnuggets.)
“Fine People Hoax II: ‘The Post’s claim of a ‘second strike’ to target ‘survivors’ is pure invention.’ “
https://x.com/Rasmussen_Poll/status/1995172939231014998
Another good point is if there were people clinging to wreckage after a strike they would be dead anyway. In the middle of the ocean, clinging to wreckage with no chance of rescue they would die a slow agonizing death.
And yet another great point is that if they were alive, Pam Bondi would love to have them rescued and then parade them in front of the TV cameras.
I remember some of the internecine shenanigans from Afghanistan. Where one faction ratted out someone else’s family/tribe and got the US to hit them with kinetic strikes to settle a score when it was a grudge they were settling vice taliban.
When it comes to the druggies trust but verify the intel then whack them.
If the SECWAR was dumb enough to tell them to “kill everyone” He needs to pay the price. And the commander who reiterated the order needs to pay the price as well.
What does the ROE actually say, and what JAG signed off on it?
If on the other hand the rules say we aren’t going to risk our people to attempt to rescue survivors. That isn’t the same as “kill everyone”
1. They are not enemy combatents.
2. They get no Geneva Convention “rights”
3. They are narco terrorists. They get what they get.
They are the equivalent of pirates raiding in international waters.
I would not waste a perfectly good missile on them.
Damn the sharks:-)
Sharks gotta eat too. And the first survivor to get attacked by a shark will just serve as a warning to others that indeed, there are sharks in the area. Swim faster
It is the same as a video of Trump being peed on by a Russian prostitute. If such a thing had ever existed, it would already be out there.
OT
I’m with you on that.
I’d say “trust, but verify”, except it’s the WaPo. I wouldn’t trust them if they said “water is wet and fire is hot”.
Any evidence? Any at all? Bueller? Bueller?
The WAPO is another D-rat propaganda rag, just like the NY Slimes.
They would just claim ice is sold water, therefore not wet.
Left/libtards saw Lawrence of Arabia too much:
When I was serving and a target was designated as “K/C” I always wondered what to do if someone suddenly decided to surrender. It never happened but it did make me wonder. The more I thought about it, the more I decided it didn’t really matter. The mission profile would be met either way and the circumstances and disposal of a non-signatory, terrorist and terrorist organization that had no rules to follow whatsoever was not really a major worry or heartache. Shooting at “seamen” in the water should be considered well out.
Drug dealers and smugglers are somewhat less of a threat to the overwhelming majority of US citizens not on drugs and I have no idea what the mission profile for a take down looks like. They aren’t really concerned for violence for it’s own sake, more like a tool and by-product of their trade.
When Tripolitania declared war on the United States, even though they were pirates, there was a negotiation delegation and someone to talk to. In this case the extra-judicial killings aren’t really resolving anything or fixing anything and there is no one to talk to try to get the bad behavior (drug smuggling) to stop. One would think that near certain death could cause behavior modification but apparently not.
Drug flow continues unabated, prices remain low and supply remains high. Overdoses are probably down somewhat but that is the current trend. So what are we really getting for our billions in munitions expenditure?
Live (dead?) fire exercises?
Tom Kratman wrote a storyline into his “Carreraverse” (Legion del Cid) that delt with Narcos. (LOL, and how)
It boils down to “Cartels use terror to maintain control and submission. So we are free to teach them that there are worse forms of, and practitioners of, terror. The poor bastards.”
When the leader speaks to the narcos’ “diplomat”, his words thus carry a certain weight ours seldom do.
But I can certainly see an orange man on a throne of narco skulls saying “Keep that crap out of our country”.
So far, the Cartels haven’t struck back in force. I think they are just going to wait out Trump’s term. Because you -know- there is a strike plan waiting for the go order. All it will take is one dramatic stupid act. Just one overly prideful hothead in a culture of Machismo.
The downside is, it may not be a hothead that orders the brushback. And that notional “cold” may farm it out. Of course, the more effective their hit, the more likely we use tac nukes, or something similar, on the catrel leadership… lol.
If Trump is able to push drug use in the US back to say 1950 levels, the cost savings and improved safety and productivity would be huge.
I agree with John Hinderaker on this story:
“The story is based on anonymous “sources,” i.e., deep state leakers. Unless and until someone steps forward, identifies himself, tells us what he knows and how he knows it, and takes responsibility for his statements, I assume everything in the story is probably a lie.”
“Anonymous sources” = we made it up out of thin air and pulled it out of our ass.
I’ll take Vindman says for $1000 Alex…
Well…since you brought him up…
https://twitchy.com/samj/2025/12/01/nobody-is-more-butthurt-over-pete-hegseths-fake-childrens-book-cartel-zinger-than-eugene-vindman-n2422309
Aaaaand here’s the other one!
https://twitchy.com/brettt/2025/12/01/alexander-vindman-thinks-now-is-the-time-to-curtail-presidents-pardon-powers-n2422322
Any time I read or hear a news story that announces it was derived from “anonymous sources”, I immediately draw the conclusion it’s all dogshit.
Investigate this:
At least 2 survivors of US attack on alleged drug smugglers in American custody
The survivors in the Caribbean Sea were rescued by helicopter.
By Anne Flaherty and Luis Martinez
At least 2 survivors of US attack on alleged drug smugglers in American custody – ABC News
Oops.
Those boats were full of booger sugar. Not so much the fentanyl that is killing everyone.
It’s still a big win, since fentanyl is frequently into Bolivian Marching Powder (which does enough damage on It’s own)
A big ole minefield on the Mexican border should help with the fentanyl smuggling
The survivors were not killed in the water by our people…they were killed by Sharkeenguns. I’m sure you’ve seen them on the SYFY Channel.
“… two individuals with direct knowledge of the operation — who, like five others in the report, spoke on condition of anonymity…” If this bothers you so much have the BALLS and come out and say it and stop acting like a bitch gossiping behind people’s backs. Those most likely scenario is that its pure bullshit. I’m sure the order was to “Destroy the target”, and somebody possible made it up their head to kill the survivors. Does anybody think that order would flow down from the SECWAR to theater, battle group, and finally on scene commanders? If you do, I have some ocean front property in Kansas I want to sell you.
Well, lets ask Dean Wormer…
On a funny, related note from the Duffel Blog:
https://www.duffelblog.com/pentagon-recalls-hegseth-to-active-duty-for-violating-most-of-the-ucmj/
Haha, those are some funny guys, over there! Thanks for the link.
I’ll see your Duffel Blog and raise a Babylon Bee. Hegseth Halts U.S. Demand For Illegal Drugs By Drone Striking Hunter Biden | Babylon Bee
This is your JAG speaking.
“The Geneva Convention” (more correctly, the 3rd Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War”) simply does not apply.
Whether you call them “narco-terrorists” or simply “drug smugglers” they are:
1 – Not members of an opposing armed force (of another country) engaged in a war — declared or undeclared — against the United States;
… and …
2 – Not entitled to the status of a Prisoner of War under the alternative definition that applies to “other conflicts” including “conflicts not of international character (civil wars),” to wit:
a. They do not carry their arms openly.
b. They do not wear a fixed sign recognizable at a distance.
c. They do not report to a chain of command, with officers responsible for the actions of their subordinates.
d. They do not follow the Laws of War.
So, again, like pirates, they are outlaws. Literally “outside the law.”
And having chosen to live “outside the law” they cannot be heard to complain that they were mistreated in any way.
Do you notice, none of the next of kin, or any survivors, has protested that they were in fact innocent fishermen engaged in lawful pursuits. It is only the apologists of the Democrat Party and other leftists who are rising to the defense of international drug smugglers.
That leaves the civilian legal issue of “Deadly Force” aka “Fleeing Felon” etc. for which there is NO international definition or application. Yes, in New York City a police officer may not shoot a fleeing felon, even if well identified, unless that felon presents an immediate danger to the officer. That is a fairly recent change to previous American law and applies only within the jurisdiction of the United States.
Now, if Venezuela, et al. were to agree that the Gulf of America, formerly known as the Gulf of [cartel governed] Mexico, is in fact an American lake, then they might have a legitimate argument that United States domestic law applies to them.
Not a JAGoff, but I concur with your opinion on the law. Hopefully, the commie cuttlefish will not show up here to render his blather of an opinion.
The commie cuttlefish is still deciding what outrage of the day deserves more comment, and should be along shortly.
Any ideas what will set him off next time, or has it not yet occurred. Post your ideas below.
Law of Armed Conflct (LOAC) is not simply Geneva Conventions. There are other things like Hague conventions that are included. Its been over 20 years since I retired but I remember multiple “classes” and tests, on top of ROE tests as part of every deployment During my last 15 years on active duty.
You were fighting against a terrorist non-uniformed force no protected by international. The functional equivalent of pirates in international waters have even less protection. They are not subject to the ROE of the war on terror, which are also not based on either convention.
I’m pretty sure SOUTHCOM as well as SOCOM have standing ROE. In the 80s and 90s there were ROE for counterdrug ops in LANTCOM and SOUTHCOM AORs
It isn’t correct to say that; “none of the next of kin, or any survivors, has protested that they were in fact innocent fishermen engaged in lawful pursuits”. Some have complained and made claims of innocence and those killed being fisherman. At minimum they were denied due process.
No government agency has backed any of the claims.
This reporting is very likely riddled with inaccuracy since it is in the the NYT.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/world/americas/trump-drug-boat-strikes-colombian-fisherman.html
Also:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/family-trinidadian-man-believed-killed-us-strike-demands-proof-drug-trafficking-2025-10-17/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/17/trump-caribbean-venezuela-trinidad-boat-strikes
This attorney concurs with the original posting attorney’s statement.
On the other hand, is leaving survivors to slowly die of thirst and sunburn, or be eaten by sharks any less brutal? A decent argument can be made that they have done them a favor by finishing them quickly.
I’m just worried about all the poor fish concussed by the blast. It’s a crime against nature.
But how do we know there are fish in the immediate vicinity?
If there was fish there, they ain’t there now!
I say leave them for the EPA to fish out. We have to think about pollution to our shorelines.
“Not that it matters”, but here is supposed American Patriot Mark Kelly shilling for a CCP drug maker leveraging his military and NASA service for Chinese blood money.
https://x.com/LoomerUnleashed/status/1995619683790455253
If the price is right, Mark Kelly will sell anything…ANYTHING
That D-rat POS Leon Panetta just accused Hegseth of “war crimes.” If I was still a lawer, I would sue that bastard, pro bono. He droned American citizens for 0bama, including a 16 year-old boy, who was collateral damage, IIRC.
Our forces killed Awlaki, his teenage son, and his 8-year-old daughter. All three were U.S. citizens. But Panetta, the Progs, and their media didn’t have any problem with those deaths.
It’s interesting to note that nothing came of the investigation into Obama’s two and three strike “double tap” drone program…the Florida Law review wrote an article 8 years ago suggesting such a program was indeed likely to be considered a war crime…but again, crickets.
But now because the media told them so all the doinks on the left are up in arms over a strike much less obnoxious than the Obama program simply because they hate Trump so much it affects their ability to think clearly.
Obama’s program was to send a drone strike to a target and then wait between 5 and 20 minutes and hit it again…which usually meant strike number two and/or three would be hitting first responders as they arrive on scene of strike number one.
But Obama was well liked by the media so these types of strikes were perfectly acceptable to the assclowns of the media.
To be clear I don’t have an issue with either type of drone strike, we have long forgotten the Roman phrase Oderint Dum Metuant….but it still has value in the modern world when dealing with those who respect only strength of arms…if we are at war with drugs or terror or whatever killing those on the other side by whatever means necessary to achieve our nation’s goals may be an ugly reality, but when words fail violence or surrender are the only other options available.