Latest U.S. Boat Strike: Two Dead and a Sole Survivor
The U.S. military conducted a strike against an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, killing two people and leaving one survivor. According to the U.S. Southern Command, Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Southcom’s new commander, had led the first strike of this operation. This was after Donovan took over after Alvin Holsey, a US Navy admiral, chose to retire over reported disagreements over the boat-strike policy.
A 12-second video accompanied the announcement of the strike, showing a boat that was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific, the Pentagon said. Two people were at the rear of the vessel, traveling through the water, before an explosion set the boat ablaze.
According to Pentagon statements, on February 9, “Joint Task Force Southern Spear”, or “Operation Southern Spear,” an organization that defends the homeland by conducting counter-narco-terrorist operations across the U.S notified the Coast Guard to conduct a search-and-rescue mission for the sole survivor of the strikes. Until now, it has been tallied that at least 121 people have been killed on suspected drug boats as part of Operation Southern Spear, a campaign the Trump administration says is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking.
The administration had marked those who were killed as “unlawful combatants.” Therefore, they claimed the right to engage in lethal strikes without judicial review. However, the administration has also shown little evidence that the boat and the people killed had drugs on their vessels or were affiliated with drug cartels. Since the operations began in September, the legality of the strikes has also come under intense scrutiny in Congress. According to many current or former military lawyers, they had previously presented their views on CNN that the strikes were unlawful. Many other legal specialists had stated the strikes were illegal, as it is seen as wrong to target and kill civilians who do not pose a threat of violence, even if suspected of crime.
Monday’s boat strike is the third publicly known attack of the year, and the second to leave a survivor, as a strike in January killed two people and left one survivor. The U.S. military had also stated that about two-thirds of the strikes took place in the Pacific Ocean.
From the information that has been given about this case, civilians should stand aside until more is revealed about it. Until then, no more accusations of debating whether the strikes were justified, or whether they were carried out in cold blood and theatre.