US Shoots First: UN 'Shocked' by Washington's Maritime Enforcement
The BBC reports UN human rights chief Volker Türk stating US strikes on alleged drug boats in international waters are 'unacceptable' and violate international law. Türk criticizes the US practice of intercepting and interdicting vessels without due process or sovereign permission. One might wonder why this particular brand of unilateral international policing draws UN ire, when other, far more
devastating US-backed actions often elicit little more than 'deep concern.' This isn't Washington's first rodeo playing judge, jury, and executioner on the high seas, or anywhere else. The US routinely asserts jurisdiction far beyond its borders, from drone strikes in sovereign nations to economic sanctions against countries daring to dissent. The outrage here seems less about the principle of
law, and more about the minor inconvenience this particular enforcement might cause, compared to say, the unfettered military aid to allies who commit actual war crimes with US-supplied weaponry. (See House Resolution 815, passed 2/13/2024, providing $14.1 billion in aid to Israel, despite ongoing allegations of war crimes, per numerous UN reports.)