About the Drug Boat Strikes

This is an article written and submitted as a guest column to the Waco “Tribune-Herald” newspaper 12-5-2025.  I am on the board of contributors for that newspaper.  We will see if they use it.  It is reproduced here,  word-for-word as submitted,  because I think this argument needs to be made as public as possible,   as soon as possible.

Update 12-10-2025:  The Waco "Trib" used a slightly-edited form of the as-submitted article on their op-ed page Tuesday,  12-9-2025.

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About the Drug Boat Strikes                           

I see a lot of emphasis in the news media and among members of Congress,  on the “second strike to kill survivors” incident,  and not very much emphasis on whether it is legal at all,  for our military to strike drug-smuggling boats in the first place!  I have to disagree strongly with that emphasis.  Here is why:

After the 9-11 attack,  then-President George W. Bush immediately made war upon the terrorist group and its armies that did that attack upon us (Al Qaida).  Congress enacted a war powers act that gave him continuing authorization to do so,  and he quickly expanded this to include the Taliban,  and later Iraq (although the reasons for going into Iraq have since proved false).  After that,  the enemy became ISIS.  There are many of these groups that still try to attack us today with the terrorist armies that they operate.  Many of them (but not all today) are proxy terrorist armies operated by Iran.

These were,  and are,  all terrorist organizations that operated their own armies.  These armies are assigned targets to attack,  with military style weapons (to include missiles and explosives,  beyond just guns),  just like the military armies operated by many countries.  Israel faces similar terrorist armies in the form of Hamas and Hezbollah,  and some others. 

All of this is long well-known!  The asymmetric warfare aspect of dealing with a terrorist army versus a proper national army,  does not diminish the truth that these really are armies,  operated by those terrorist organizations.  They have the characteristics of armies!

President Trump has used that same war powers act to start military operations against the drug running cartels in and around Venezuela,  and other places,  without any further authorization from Congress.  He and his administration merely made the public claim that these are “narco-terrorists” that we will wage war upon,  and he threatens to expand this war into the interior of Venezuela.   And maybe even places like Columbia and Mexico.

The label “narco-terrorists” merely means designating these drug running organizations as “terrorists”.  Not all terrorist groups operate armies!  One has to presume that the war powers act intended that all terrorist groups can have war waged upon them,  to justify the current military actions against drug runners.  But,  that is not what the war powers act was intended to authorize!  It authorized action against terrorist armies,  not all terrorists!

As his “justification”,  President Trump and his administration point to the large drug death tolls as the “attack” upon the US,  by these “narco-terrorists”.  Yes,  there are a lot of drug overdose deaths,  especially in the years since these evildoers starting making fentanyl.  There has always been a large death toll due to drug overdose,  be it heroin,  methamphetamine,  or any of the others.  And yes,  it is worse with fentanyl. 

But,  no,  these cartels and other drug-running organizations are essentially just civilian criminal organizations and enterprises,  like the Mafia and many others.  They are quite fundamentally civilian organizations!  Their operating groups might have guns with which they kill people,  but they lack the missiles and explosives.  They do not have specific targets to go and kill or destroy.  Their only purpose is to profit from selling illegal drugs!  They do not match the characteristics of a terrorist group-operated army!

Therefore,  they are not “hostile armies” in any sense of that word!  They are but a lethal civilian criminal threat!  Under US law,  under international law,  and under the US Uniform Code of Military Justice,  these are civilians!  And under those laws,  for our military to go and deliberately kill them on sight,  is the deliberate killing of civilians!  And under those same laws,  such deliberate killing of civilians is murder,  not a legal military operation!   The legal seriousness of such a crime ranks right up there with “war crimes”. 

The orders to go and do any of these boat strikes are therefore illegal orders!  They should never have been obeyed by anyone in our military!  We are all informed of that obligation not to obey illegal orders,  upon joining up,  and we have been,  since Vietnam.  I certainly was so instructed,  when I entered the Navy 56 years ago. 

Now you know why I so strongly disagree with the reporting emphasis that mostly ignores these more generalized considerations about the drug boat strikes!  And why I am so terribly disappointed by the admiral who carried these lethal strikes out. 

President Trump has been firing or otherwise “cashiering” all the high-ranking military officers who might oppose whatever he does,  which is why I am unsurprised about what that admiral did.  This weeding-out opposition among the officer class is beginning to have definite effect,  and in a way that is not just wrong,  but truly evil!

If I have in any way persuaded you,  then do please contact your federal representation about this.  I have been doing so repeatedly,  for some months now.  They are the ones who have to stop this.  That is why you “hired” them,  with your vote!

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End of article as submitted 

Boat about to be struck

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About the only thing that I might add,  concerns the application of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.   That code says,  among many other things,  that deliberately killing civilians is a crime,  and that the order to do so is illegal and should not be obeyed.   Military personnel actually have a legal obligation not to obey illegal orders!

This restriction and the corresponding justice were not done correctly,  regarding the My Lai massacre in Vietnam,  some 5+ decades ago.  Several service people were investigated,  and a few tried by court martial,  over this incident.  It was never very clear to the public exactly who ordered the massacre of the civilians,  when they entered the village and unexpectedly found no Viet Cong. 

Only one was convicted (William Calley),  and he was quite low on the totem pole from whence the order must have come.  And,  be aware that there were many such incidents during that war that never really made the news.  This one was publicized because a reporter was able to take pictures afterward of the slain civilians,  which included women,  children,  and very old people.  The culture of the military to comply with the prohibition on deliberately killing civilians was then,  and apparently still is today,  quite imperfect.

In the case of the boat strikes,  the illegal order to kill civilians came from very high up:  straight from the White House and his Secretary of Defense,  to that admiral and his staff.  It goes down the totem pole to the commanders at sea who actually sent the planes with the missiles.  This kind of murder so very clearly rates courts-martial for the service members,  and criminal prosecution for the civilians. 

Based on his remarks and behavior,  Donald Trump is apparently the one that told the military to do all these killings at sea.   At Nuremberg,  we preferred to go after the higher-ranking Nazis who actually gave the orders to commit the war crimes,  more so than the field troops who carried them out.   It is so very clear that it is Trump and his “top dogs” that should be brought to justice.  That definitely includes at least Pete Hegseth.

See how wrong it was for the Supreme Court to grant immunity to President Trump for any crimes he commits while in office as the President?   They were not anticipating murder.  That egregious error committed by the court majority,  prevents trying Trump for the 80+ murders he has so far ordered,  whether now,  or after he is out of office!   And that is just plain wrong!

I do hope somebody out there knows how to get this posted article in front of the Supreme Court.  They certainly need to correct their very egregious error!   And the Navy chain of command needs to see this,  too,  and they need to stop obeying these illegal orders from Trump and Hegseth.  That goes for the other branches,  too! 

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Search keywords                       bad government

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Update 12-9-2025:  Feedback indicates the persistence of the idea that drug addiction and the related overdose deaths qualifies as an attack upon America.  And that "justifies" classifying these drug running criminal scum as a "hostile army",  in turn "justifying" killing them on sight.  In response,  I would point out the comparison of the characteristics between a hostile army (terrorist or not),  and a criminal organization,  in the portion of the paragraph above that I have now highlighted in yellow.  These drug runners really are criminal scum,  but even so,  they are definitely civilian.  

The real problem is the near-70 mph speed of some of these smuggling speedboats.  The Coast Guard cutters (which are lightly armed) cannot overtake and catch them!  But,  solving that problem does NOT require a missile attack from a carrier aircraft,  which is inherently sudden death launched remotely.  If these really are civilian criminals,  then under my interpretation of the laws,  that deliberate missile attack upon civilians is the crime of murder!  Period!

The only "justification" for doing it this way,  is that it gives the White House something chaotic,  controversial,  and consequently newsworthy,  to point at and say "look what I am doing for you".  Murder for political gain is even more heinous than just murder.

The solution to the fast speedboat problem that also lies within the law,  is to pair a Navy frigate carrying an armed helicopter with the Coast Guard cutter.  When they do spot a fast speedboat that the cutter cannot catch,  launch the helicopter from the frigate,  which can easily catch that speedboat.  A burst or two of machine gun fire into the boat motors will stop the speed boat,  allowing the Coast Guard cutter to reach and board it.  

That approach has a definite target:  the boat motors.  Under the various laws of war,  collateral civilian deaths are legal when you have an actual target,  in this case the boat motors.  I do think it likely that there will be casualties (and survivors) from that machine gun fire,   but at least the pilots and gunners,  and those who gave the orders,  are in the clear legally.  The Coast Guard boarding party from the cutter can determine "for sure" who and what was aboard,  and make any arrests,  as appropriate.  Which is what they do anyway,  and quite properly and legally.  That generates less "political hay" for the White House,  but it accomplishes the mission within the law,  no matter what!

A final piece of information:  also under the various laws for the last several centuries,  an unflagged vessel at sea is presumed to be "pirate",  and anybody may stop them,  board them,  and find out if they really are pirate,  and if they are,  deal with them appropriately.  "Unflaggged" means exactly what it says:  a vessel not flying any national identity flag at all.  If you are out there in a yacht or other craft unflagged,  you can also be stopped,  but you have the right not to be destroyed,  sunk,  or killed,  without being boarded first.  The designation "pirate" would certainly cover criminal scum like the drug runners,  too.  My suggested approach with the paired cutter and frigate would stay well within that aspect of the laws,  too.  Rocket round strikes from a carrier jet would not. 

One final note:  while the majority of the strikes already conducted have proven to have killed or injured real drug runners,  there have been some survivors who were not drug runners at all!  Intelligence gathering and remote sensing are not perfect,  by any measure!  You simply have to go aboard the craft in question to be sure.  If you do not,  you run the credible risk of killing not just civilians,  but innocent civilians.  Another very heinous crime!

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Update 12-14-2025:  It occurs to me there is a third possibility to deal with,  under the old law of the sea regarding flagged versus unflagged vessels.  The vessel may be flying a false flag!  If so and it is armed,  that flying of a false flag more or less falls either in the pirate/criminal category,  or in the enemy vessel category.  If armed,  the vessel can resist being stopped and boarded.  If unarmed,  it cannot resist being stopped and boarded.  Either way,  you must attempt to stop it and board it,  to find out in fact who and what is aboard.  If they resist,  armed conflict is then appropriate.  Otherwise,  it is not appropriate at all.  

I also heard an interview with Machado,  the leader of Venezuelan resistance to dictator Maduro.  She asserts that Maduro really is deeply involved in narcotics smuggling and in the black market oil activities to avoid sanctions.  She says he deals with Russia,  Iran,  Hamas,  Hezbollah,  and others.  His is basically a criminal dictatorship,  and she further claims that he has killed hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in his terror and oppression campaigns.  I would tend to believe her claims.

In that case,  seizing the tanker was actually the correct and legal thing for the US Navy to be doing!  It was either unflagged or flying a false flag,  the news story photography is not clear on that point.  But it was involved in criminal smuggling activity,  qualifying as "pirate".  And,  it was apparently known that its location transmitter was tampered-with to send a false signal of its location.  And,  very noteworthy,  the Navy boarded this ship,  from a helicopter,  while it was underway.  They did NOT sink it on sight!

While most of the speedboats may be identifiable from a distance as drug smugglers,  not all the boats moving around "out there" are drug smugglers.  There are lots of small boats out there,  all unflagged.  There is the distinct possibility of misidentifying one,  and we have already seen that happen with a fishing boat.  Even if real drugs and drug smugglers are aboard,  they are civilians,  regardless of their criminality,  as argued above.  And THOSE TWO THINGS TOGETHER are why the law of the sea must be followed with respect to drug smuggling speed boats:  you must stop and board to find the truth,  you DO NOT OPEN FIRE first!  

And I already suggested above exactly how to do that,  even when the speed boat can outrun the Coast Guard cutter.

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