IMPERIALIST PIRACY ON THE HIGH SEAS
'Not really a war': Analyst reveals 'unprecedented features' of Trump's boat strikes
Robert Davis
November 2, 2025
RAW STORY
A prominent political analyst revealed the "unprecedented features" of President Donald Trump's strikes on alleged drug boats in international waters in a new essay published on Sunday.
Richard Galant, executive producer of Now It's History on Substack and a Senior Fellow at New America, argued in a new essay that Trump seems to be drawing from the authority other presidents have used during America's War on Drugs. He compared the strikes to operations conducted under the Hoover and Nixon administrations.
However, Galant noted in the essay that there are two "unprecedented features" of Trump's strikes.
"For one thing, the people on the boats being blasted out of the water by U.S. drones are being denied even a pretense of the due process U.S. law gives to suspected criminals," Galant wrote. "'Judge, jury and executioner,' would be an apt way of characterizing those in the military who have to pull the trigger."
"For another, there is no explanation of how the boats and those aboard are being chosen as targets," he continued.
He also noted that Trump appears to be fighting a war, even though he has not formally declared one.
"Declaring a war that is not really a war is irresistible for some presidents," Galant wrote. "It sounds dramatic, forceful and all-consuming even though in reality it isn’t anything like a real war. After all, a real war requires making unpopular decisions like mobilizing much of the economy and potentially drafting citizens into the military."
Read the entire essay by clicking here.
U.S. Forces Destroy 15th Suspected Smuggling Boat off South America
The U.S. military has eliminated another suspected drug-trafficking boat in the Caribbean, neutralizing a suspected cocaine shipment and three vessel operators. The 15th strike brings the number of suspected narco-traffickers eliminated using lethal force to more than 60 individuals.
"This vessel—like every other—was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics. Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed, and no U.S. forces were harmed in this strike," said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a statement. "The Department will treat them exactly how we treated Al-Qaeda. We will continue to track them, map them, hunt them, and kill them."
The latest attack comes as the Trump administration is ramping up its military presence in the Caribbean amidst reports of planned ground attacks in Venezuela. The carrier USS Gerald R. Ford - deployed in the Mediterranean - has been ordered to reposition, and is presently gathering up its escorts for the transatlantic crossing. Its departure from the theater will leave the Middle East free of any American carrier presence for the first time in years.
The newly-aggressive posture in U.S. Southern Command has been accompanied by a leadership reshuffle. II Marine Expeditionary Force has taken over the anti-narcotics mission from the Coast Guard-led Joint Interagency Task Force South, which previously operated using nonlethal methods; U.S. SOUTHCOM commander Adm. Alvin Holsey was reportedly asked to retire early over his views on the boat strike campaign; and Joint Chiefs strategy director Lt. Gen. Joe McGee was reportedly pushed out over disagreements over the same issue, among others, per CNN. The administration has denied reports about the reasons for the early retirements.
'Hitman for Trump': Pete Hegseth blasted
after 3 more 'extrajudicial killings' disclosed
Alexander Willis
November 2, 2025
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, after a meeting of NATO Defence Ministers at the Alliance headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium October 15, 2025. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Another three people were killed in the Caribbean according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who announced Saturday another strike on a sea vessel as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to target supposed “narco-terrorists,” but critics are pushing back against Hegseth for being complicit in what many have labeled “extrajudicial killings.”
“You are nothing but a 'hit man' for Trump,” wrote X user “Jennie M Reed,” who frequently shares content critical of the Trump administration. “Nothing more.”
The Trump administration has accelerated its targeting of suspected drug traffickers in the Caribbean in recent weeks, killing at least 64 people that it says were trafficking narcotics to the United States, but members of Congress – including some Republicans – say they haven’t been adequately briefed on the strikes, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in particular having condemned them as being illegal state-sanctioned executions that deny those executed due process.
“Trump, Hegseth, and senior military commanders murdered 3 more people last night and the homicides near 100 people, and they expect you to take their word for it that they were transporting drugs and accept it,” wrote Ron Filipkowski, a former federal prosecutor, in a social media post on X Sunday. “They murder whoever they want whenever they want.”
The strikes have been accompanied by the Trump administration’s military escalations with Venezuela, which have included the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to just off of Venezuela’s shores.
President Donald Trump has rationalized the targeting of Venezuela by arguing that the nation is responsible for trafficking a significant amount of narcotics into the United States – particularly fentanyl – though findings from U.S. intelligence agencies refute this. U.S. intelligence has assessed that “little to none” of the fentanyl trafficked to the United States is being produced in Venezuela, and that many of the sea vessels struck by the Trump administration did not even have the capacity to even reach American shores.
“Another day, another extrajudicial killing by a wannabe dictator and his drunk secretary of war,” wrote X user “Endri Bejte,” who’s frequently posted content critical of Trump, referencing past allegations against Hegseth for having frequently abused alcohol.
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