US Strike on Drug Smuggling Boat Near Venezuela:Sparks New War Crime Concerns"

The Pentagon confirmed the attack on Thursday. This latest strike comes at a time when the administration of President Donald Trump is facing strong criticism over a similar incident on September 2, when a targeted boat was hit twice. Experts say that second strike may have been a war crime. According to a post on X from the US Southern Command, the newest strike was ordered by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The military said the vessel was operating in international waters and was linked to a group that the US labels as a “Designated Terrorist Organization.” Intelligence, they said, showed the boat was carrying illegal drugs along a well-known trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific. Four men on board were killed. The Trump administration has killed more than 80 alleged drug smugglers as part of this months-long campaign. But the September 2 incident has triggered bipartisan concern and investigations in Congress. Lawmakers from both parties want to know whether the United States acted within the law. The White House denies claims that Hegseth ordered the second strike on September 2, which appeared to kill two survivors from the first attack. Instead, officials say that Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley ordered the second strike, and that it followed the laws of armed conflict. However, many legal experts disagree. They say it is a war crime to target people who are unarmed or unable to defend themselves, such as survivors from a destroyed boat. Even the US military’s own rules say it is illegal to fire on shipwrecks. Admiral Bradley appeared before congressional committees on Thursday in a series of closed-door briefings. After the meetings, lawmakers gave conflicting statements. Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that Bradley clearly stated he never received an order to “kill them all.” But Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said that the instructions sounded different. According to Smith, the order was to “destroy the drugs and kill the 11 people on the boat.” Smith also described video footage of the attack, saying it showed two shirtless survivors clinging to the bow of a capsized boat before being killed by another missile strike. Human rights groups had already criticized the US campaign even before the September 2 revelations, calling the strikes unlawful and amounting to extrajudicial killings. Earlier this week, the family of Alejandro Carranza, a Colombian fisherman, filed a complaint with a regional human rights body. They say he was wrongly killed by a US strike in September and that his right to life was violated. The Trump administration has described the operations as part of a “war” on narco-terrorists, though Congress has not approved any formal declaration of war or authorized the use of force. The latest strike also comes as the US continues to move more military forces near Venezuela. President Trump has warned that land-based strikes against targets in Venezuela could happen “very soon.” Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says the US is trying to overthrow his government.

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