THE SINKING OF NARCO BOATS SIGNALS US UNDERSTANDS THE NEW GENERATION OF WAR

STEPHEN DECATUR ATTACKS THE BARBARY PIRATES IN TRIPOLI 2/16/1804

“UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk declared Friday that US military airstrikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific violate international human rights law, calling for an immediate halt to operations that have killed over 60 people since early September.” Mike Schuler, GCaptain

“These attacks – and their mounting human cost – are unacceptable. The US must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them,” Türk said.

Let’s be clear: the United States isn’t waging a “drug war” in the old sense anymore. What’s happening on the Caribbean and Pacific drug routes is closer to a low-intensity conflict with a multinational criminal enterprise that acts more like a rogue state than a street gang. The so-called Cartel de Soles—a loose alliance of Venezuelan military figures, Colombian traffickers, and transnational networks—has turned narcotics into a strategic weapon against the American public. The fentanyl crisis, the border chaos, and the boatloads of cocaine and synthetic drugs are not just profit-making ventures. They are deliberate acts designed to weaken and destabilize the United States from within.

That’s why Washington’s posture has changed. The U.S. isn’t firing on fishermen—it’s targeting vessels operated by armed traffickers, often protected by corrupt elements of foreign militaries. These boats are built for speed, stealth, and evasion, and are frequently armed. When they run dark and refuse to stop, they effectively become combatants. Under those conditions, the line between “law enforcement” and “armed conflict” disappears.

Critics at the United Nations may talk about “extrajudicial killings,” but they’re clinging to a legal framework that doesn’t fit the battlefield we’re in. “UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk declared Friday that US military airstrikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific violate international human rights law, calling for an immediate halt to operations that have killed over 60 people since early September.” Mike Schuler, GCaptain

“These attacks – and their mounting human cost – are unacceptable. The US must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them,” Türk said.

Let’s be clear: the United States isn’t waging a “drug war” in the old sense anymore. What’s happening on the Caribbean and Pacific drug routes is closer to a low-intensity conflict with a multinational criminal enterprise that acts more like a rogue state than a street gang. The so-called Cartel de Soles—a loose alliance of Venezuelan military figures, Colombian traffickers, and transnational networks—has turned narcotics into a strategic weapon against the American public. The fentanyl crisis, the border chaos, and the boatloads of cocaine and synthetic drugs are not just profit-making ventures. They are deliberate acts designed to weaken and destabilize the United States from within.

That’s why Washington’s posture has changed. The U.S. isn’t firing on fishermen—it’s targeting vessels operated by armed traffickers, often protected by corrupt elements of foreign militaries. These boats are built for speed, stealth, and evasion, and are frequently armed. When they run dark and refuse to stop, they effectively become combatants. Under those conditions, the line between “law enforcement” and “armed conflict” disappears.

Critics at the United Nations may talk about “extrajudicial killings,” but they’re clinging to a legal framework that doesn’t fit the battlefield we’re in. International law assumes clear national boundaries and responsible governments—neither exists here. When a Venezuelan general moonlights as a cartel commander and uses his country’s naval assets to move narcotics north, that’s not simple crime. It’s hybrid warfare.

President Trump, by authorizing these strikes, is drawing from historical precedent. Early American presidents used naval power to crush the Barbary pirates when piracy became state-sponsored extortion. The same logic applied in the early 20th-century “Banana Wars,” when the U.S. defended its citizens and interests against lawless regimes using criminal proxies. Then as now, the goal wasn’t conquest—it was to restore security and deter attacks on American lives and commerce.

Are there risks? Absolutely. Civilian casualties must be avoided, and transparency is vital. But pretending that these drug fleets are innocent merchantmen is naïve and dangerous. Every load that slips through funds violence, corruption, and the ongoing chemical assault on America’s streets.

The UN’s outrage would carry more weight if it offered a practical alternative. Until the international community takes the narcotics-as-warfare model seriously, the U.S. will do what it has always done when threatened at sea—defend itself.

President Trump, by authorizing these strikes, is drawing from historical precedent. Early American presidents used naval power to crush the Barbary pirates when piracy became state-sponsored extortion. The same logic applied in the early 20th-century “Banana Wars,” when the U.S. defended its citizens and interests against lawless regimes using criminal proxies. Then as now, the goal wasn’t conquest—it was to restore security and deter attacks on American lives and commerce.

Are there risks? Absolutely. Civilian casualties must be avoided, and transparency is vital. But pretending that these drug fleets are innocent merchantmen is naïve and dangerous. Every load that slips through funds violence, corruption, and the ongoing chemical assault on America’s streets.

The UN’s outrage would carry more weight if it offered a practical alternative. Until the international community takes the narcotics-as-warfare model seriously, the U.S. will do what it has always done when threatened at sea—defend itself.