Trump live updates: President expands ‘narco’ boat strikes to Pacific Ocean as 8th boat is struck

[Belk]

The military is not doing illegal acts in stopping illegal drugs from killing our people.

If I increase the font will you finally read and understand my post?

I. AM. NOT. TALKING. ABOUT. THE. MILITARY.

 

[Belk]

I thought we were talking about the military strikes on these smugglers. Isn't that what this thread is about?

If you can't follow the conversation perhaps injecting yourself is a poor choice.

 

[Valletta]

It is hard for me to trust Trump because he is not transparent and provides little evidence in regards to these boat killings. (not too mention this is possibly illegal under international law.
In mis-speaking, Trump has said that by sinking a boat he saves 25 thousand lives.
Data (2003) though shows only 105,000 deaths due to drugs from both illegal and those overdosing with prescriptions. So 8 boats is saving 200,000 lives seems impossible.
Trump too seems to have mission creep going on with this part of the war on drugs. First it was Venezuela. Now it is Columbia. Yet, one man in the submarine that survived was from Ecuador. The justification for blowing up the boats is widening by country and by what is a "Foreign Terrorist Organization." Evidence is scant as to who is on board and what groups they are with. In general, we should be very skeptical of Trump's claims and justifcation for military action, especially lethal ones. Wars are often justifed based on hyperbole, deciet, lies, and false flag operations. Of course the drug threat is real but is Trump being real with Americans for wanting to police the entire Carribbean?

Drug Overdose Deaths: Facts and Figures | National Institute on Drug Abuse

See facts and figures on overdose deaths as reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

nida.nih.gov

In Christian terms, Trump also may not meet the moral tests that the bible requires. Several times in the bible is it mentioned that two or three witnesses are required to establish a fact.

While Trump likely could be tried as a war criminal if the USA is a signer of the ICC, a Christian should ask is the USA obligated by its signature in any international agreements? Specifically the USA ratified the ICCPR in 1992.

• Right to life: Article 6 of the ICCPR protects the fundamental right to life, which cannot be arbitrarily taken. Human Rights Watch states that the US strikes violated international human rights law by not attempting non-lethal alternatives and by failing to show that the people on board posed an imminent threat to life.

A moral country should stick to its obligations. The USA has consented to a larger layer of government at the world level. Thus we are subject to those authorities? Granted they are weak but our leaders signed on. We should withdraw if we are not going to follow them.

Current intelligence is, as always, classified. The decisions are left up to the president and are reviewed by the oversight committees in Congress.

 

[Vambram]

If I increase the font will you finally read and understand my post?

I. AM. NOT. TALKING. ABOUT. THE. MILITARY.

Then, you don’t understand what happened. The military is legally following legal orders to destroy boats carrying illegal drugs designed to poison and kill people. Why is that difficult to understand?

 

[rjs330]

If you can't follow the conversation perhaps injecting yourself is a poor choice.

I dont think so because the other party also is talking about the military actions. Which again is what this thread is about. Not some random citizen.

 

[Vambram]

“When the United States military launched an airstrike on a speedboat as it approached the southern shore of the Dominican Republic last month, killing three people on board, Dominican authorities said more than 375 packages of cocaine went flying into the Caribbean Sea.
Dozens of them had red packaging with a brand name clearly labeled in black and white capital letters, MEN, according to photos distributed by the Dominican anti-narcotics agency.
The 1,000 kilos of cocaine recovered from the wreckage were added to the nearly 19,000 kilos of drugs the Dominican Republic’s anti-narcotics agency had already captured since January, in what had been a record-setting year of narcotics seizures at sea before U.S. warships moved into the region.”

Drug smugglers change supply routes to evade U.S. warships HEY JESSICA

When the United States military launched an airstrike on a speedboat as it approached the southern shore of the Dominican Republic last month, killing three people on board, Dominican authorities

www.virginislandsdailynews.com

Quoted for the Truth

 

[Belk]

I dont think so because the other party also is talking about the military actions. Which again is what this thread is about. Not some random citizen.

Feel free to report the post for being off topic, but I will continue to post whatever I feel is relevant.

 

[Belk]

Then, you don’t understand what happened. The military is legally following legal orders to destroy boats carrying illegal drugs designed to poison and kill people. Why is that difficult to understand?

As I said, if the orders are legal then get ready for people to start using the legal reasoning in other applications. Legal reasoning is not made in isolation, it applies in other areas.

 

[bèlla]

Hegseth Orders USS Gerald R. Ford to U.S. Southern Command

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has tasked aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and its escorts to U.S. Southern Command to support the Trump administration’s ongoing counter-drug efforts, a Pentagon spokesman said Friday on social media.

“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere. These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs,” spokesman Sean Parnell wrote on X.

In a subsequent message, a Pentagon spokesperson said there was “nothing further to add” beyond Parnell’s statement.

The following is the Oct. 24, 2025, statement from Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell.

In support of the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland, the Secretary of War has directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and embarked carrier air wing to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR).

~bella

 

[wing2000]

“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere. These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs,” spokesman Sean Parnell wrote on X.

Overkill and a waste of military resources:

Detect and Monitor: There are multiple platforms available to detect and monitor cartel operations that does not involve an Aircraft Carrier battle group.

Disrupt illicit actors (IOW destroy boats, submarines or any other means of drug transport): Deploy drones.

Of course, the above statement may simply be cover for Hegseth's true objective.....

 

[rebornfree]

Then, you don’t understand what happened. The military is legally following legal orders to destroy boats carrying illegal drugs designed to poison and kill people. Why is that difficult to understand?

I know this wasn't addressed to me, but I doubt that people are blaming the military for following orders. How, though, can anyone give orders to blow up a boat without first seizing it and finding out who and what is aboard?

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Having a fishing boat is a crime?

You obviously do not know what a fishing boat looks like, much less the high powered speed boats used for drug trafficking.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

I know this wasn't addressed to me, but I doubt that people are blaming the military for following orders. How, though, can anyone give orders to blow up a boat without first seizing it and finding out who and what is aboard?

Because they presumably used surveillance to confirm who and what was aboard in the same way the military used drone strikes to blow up Isis terrorists.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Overkill and a waste of military resources:

Detect and Monitor: There are multiple platforms available to detect and monitor cartel operations that does not involve an Aircraft Carrier battle group.

Disrupt illicit actors (IOW destroy boats, submarines or any other means of drug transport): Deploy drones.

Of course, the above statement may simply be cover for Hegseth's true objective.....

Hegseth already stated what his objective is.

 

[rebornfree]

Because they presumably used surveillance to confirm who and what was aboard in the same way the military used drone strikes to blow up Isis terrorists.

Okay, I can accept that surveillance showed that they were drug smugglers. Then arrest and prosecute, either in the USA or back in their home country. Surely everyone is entitled to a trial.

 

[bèlla]

Overkill and a waste of military resources:

I’m reading a military thread and that’s the consensus. Other points were raised regarding the fallout of the operation. Which would probably increase issues with hispanic and prison gangs and bad drugs being flooded into the country. An alternative perspective acknowledged the reality of our government having agreements with the cartels and things would have remained as is if it wasn’t for fetanyl killing so many people across all classes and the public outcry that followed. It’s an interesting take and there’s probably an element of truth in each. We know they’re corrupt.

~bella

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Okay, I can accept that surveillance showed that they were drug smugglers. Then arrest and prosecute, either in the USA or back in their home country. Surely everyone is entitled to a trial.

Not necessarily. These trug cartels have been designated as terrorist organizations. Because we are technically fighting a global war on terrorism, these drug traffickers are legally enemy combatants. No different than US troops engaging the enemy on a battlefield. Would you expect Ukranians to capture a Russian convoy bringing ammunition to the front line and give them a trial, or would you expect them to send an artillery? I understand there has been a lot of political spin, but as long as enemy targets have been confirmed and are not on US soil, the president has the authority to use lethal force.

 

[wing2000]

Not necessarily. These trug cartels have been designated as terrorist organizations. Because we are technically fighting a global war on terrorism, these drug traffickers are legally enemy combatants. No different than US troops engaging the enemy on a battlefield. Would you expect Ukranians to capture a Russian convoy bringing ammunition to the front line and give them a trial, or would you expect them to send an artillery? I understand there has been a lot of political spin, but as long as enemy targets have been confirmed and are not on US soil, the president has the authority to use lethal force.

No one familiar with the laws of war accepts that interpretation.

 

[Yttrium]

I wanna see a video of a squadron of FA-18s taking out a drug smuggling boat. Make if for me, Donald.

 

[Richard T]

Current intelligence is, as always, classified. The decisions are left up to the president and are reviewed by the oversight committees in Congress.

Given that the USA let the Ecuador citizen go back home, there must be a lack of intel on who is in the boats? If he were a narco-terrorist why let him go?