Eleven killed in multiple strikes on alleged drug boats, US military says
BBC News2 days
US Kills 11 in Latest Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats Off Latin America
Do strikes on alleged drug boats protect U.S. national interests or amount to extrajudicial killings without legal basis?
Above: The US Navy's USS Stockdale docked in Panama City on Sept. 21, 2025. Image credit: Enea Lebrun/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-Trump narrative
Striking drug boats is the highest priority and best use of American military power after decades of prioritizing foreign interventions over threats in America's own hemisphere. Narco-terrorist organizations have killed tens of thousands of Americans through drug trafficking and operate as state-sponsored tools of asymmetric warfare against the U.S. Using military force against them is long overdue and reflects a necessary shift toward defending actual national interests.
Anti-Trump narrative
U.S. boat strikes constitute extrajudicial killings with no credible legal basis, and have deliberately killed more than a hundred people without identifying victims or demonstrating any imminent threat justifying lethal force. Labeling drug traffickers as terrorists doesn't create an armed conflict or turn suspects into legitimate military targets. The Trump administration has invented a war on drugs framework to justify summary executions with the goal of asserting U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere.
Metaculus Prediction
The Controversies
Establishment split
CRITICAL
PRO
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.18.0
© 2026 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.18.0