Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

“Records and interviews with 20 people familiar with the route or the strikes, including current and former U.S. and international officials, contradict the administration’s claims. The passage, they said, is not ordinarily used to traffic synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, present in 69 percent of drug overdose deaths last year. Nor are the drugs typically headed for the United States.” WaPo (Gift Article): Officials, locals undercut Trump claims about Venezuela drug boats.

+ “President Gustavo Petro of Colombia accused the United States of murdering a fisherman in an attack on a boat that the American authorities claimed was carrying illicit drugs. President Trump responded on Sunday that he would slash assistance and impose new tariffs on the country.” NYT (Gift Article): Colombia’s Leader Accuses U.S. of Murder.

+ “Rather than holding them, the United States sent them back to their home countries.” The people on the small boats targeted by the US military are essentially given the death penalty. But, apparently, there’s not enough evidence to arrest them. In Trump’s drug war, prisoners may be too much of a legal headache, experts say. Congressman Jim Himes: “The attacks on the boats in the Caribbean have been illegal. If the survivors had appeared in either court or a military tribunal that would have instantly been made clear.”