US Attacks in Pacific: 'Oops, Wrong Drug Runners'
Newsweek relayed Colombian President Gustavo Petro's claim that survivors of a US attack on a vessel were forced to jump into the Pacific. The story frames it as a drug interdiction gone wrong, a 'mistake' by operatives 'without identifying themselves.' Conveniently omitted by most mainstream outlets, however, is the long, documented history of US military and intelligence operations in Latin
American sovereign territory, often under the guise of 'anti-drug efforts' or 'national security.' One might wonder how many 'mistakes' are made when a foreign power regularly asserts jurisdiction over international waters hundreds of miles from its border. ( Newsweek ) The State Department, in true diplomatic fashion, merely stated they're 'looking into the claims.' The unspoken question: Just
how many boats does the US military 'look into' in the Pacific, and how often do civilians—not 'enemies'—end up in the water? The silence on the US military's expansive, and often uninvited, naval presence in regions like the Pacific—far from US shores—is almost as deafening as the splashes of those forced to abandon ship.