As strikes on alleged drug boats grow, so do questions about their legality and goal
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The U.S. military carried out two more strikes on alleged drug boats this week. The attacks were not in the Caribbean Sea but in the eastern Pacific Ocean, signaling an expansion of the Trump administration's campaign against drug trafficking from South America.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a video on X of a blue speedboat skipping along the ocean waters before being hit and then bursting into flames.
"Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people," Hegseth wrote in the Wednesday message. "There will be no refuge or forgiveness — only justice."
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The strikes represented the eighth and ninth known boat attacks, which have killed at least 37 people. The Trump administration has yet to provide public evidence to support its assertions that the individuals on the boats were cartel members and that the vessels were transporting drugs, raising concerns about the legality of the strikes and the real goals of the White House ca
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