US Poll Opposes Extralegal Killings, Trump Considers More
Axios highlights a poll showing 51% of Americans oppose the Trump administration's program of extrajudicial military strikes against alleged drug boats, which has killed at least 80 people. The article notes these strikes coincide with military buildup against Venezuela's Maduro. What it omits is that this 'war on drugs' abroad—and the expansion of executive power for military action—has been a
bipartisan tradition since the Reagan era, consistently failing to curb drug supply but always expanding budgets and covert operations. The 'war on terror' merely gave a new veneer to old imperial ambitions, now rebranded for 'narco-terrorists,' allowing presidents to skirt congressional war powers with alarming regularity. So, while 58% of Republicans might support these unchecked killings, one
has to wonder if their concern for 'due process' might resurface if a different administration were doing the shooting. The hypocrisy is so thick, you could cut it with a drone blade.