White Li(n)es

“President Trump has celebrated the airstrikes, noting his administration has ‘made tremendous strides in stopping the flow of illegal drugs into our country.’ In the past 13 months, American military drones and aircraft have destroyed more than 70 vessels, killing nearly 240 crew members and depriving criminal groups of $1.5 billion in cocaine, according to U.S. officials. ‘The drugs coming in by sea are down by 97%,’ Trump said in June. ‘We’re trying to figure out who the 3% are, because they are the bravest people on earth.'” This is going to come as a shock, but that assertion is not entirely true. WSJ (Gift Article): Why U.S. Airstrikes Are Failing to Stop the Global Cocaine Boom. “Smugglers are shifting routes and using new tactics to evade military targeting, resulting in record supplies, plunging prices and high purity in the U.S. and Europe.” (To paraphrase Eric Clapton on Cocaine: She don’t lie, she don’t lie, she don’t lie … but he does.)