US Strikes ‘Narco’ Boats, CITES 'Self-Defense' for International Waters
More than 30 people were killed in what The Independent reports as U.S. strikes on 'narco' boats, hailed as Trump’s “first attack” in the Pacific. This framing ignores decades of U.S. military operations in Latin America, justified by the ever-shifting goalposts of drug interdiction. These actions often resemble acts of war rather than law enforcement, with questionable legal standing in
international waters. One might also recall the Iran-Contra affair, where the U.S. was essentially facilitating drug trafficking to fund illegal wars, showing how 'narco' can be a convenient bogeyman when it suits geopolitical aims. So, the U.S. military can launch attacks killing dozens in international waters against alleged drug smugglers, but God forbid an actual sovereign nation defends its
own borders from continuous bombardment. How many 'narco' boats does it take for a full-scale invasion, and how many 'narco' boat deaths before the international community questions the legality of these unilateral 'interventions'?