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WASHINGTON – The U.S. military struck another boat in international waters off Venezuela, killing four people in an ongoing campaign against alleged drug traffickers that has generated bipartisan concern.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the strike, at least the fourth such attack in recent weeks, on social media, saying, "These strikes will continue until the attacks on the American people are over!!!!"President Donald Trump has determined the United States is engaged in "a non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels. But legal experts question the legality of killing suspected drug traffickers at sea instead of apprehending them and their cargo.Hegseth said, without providing evidence, that the intelligence "without a doubt" confirmed that the vessel was carrying drugs and that the people on board were "narco-terrorists." He said the boat was carrying a "substantial" amount of drugs, without detailing the amount or type of alleged drugs.No U.S. military personnel were hurt during the operation, which was documented in a video shared by Hegseth that shows a vessel moving through the water before a number of projectiles appear to hit the water, causing it to explode."The president has directed these actions, these strikes against Venezuelan drug cartels in these boats, consistent with his responsibility to protect the United States interests abroad and in furtherance of the U.S. national security and foreign policy interests," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Oct. 3. "This is pursuant to his constitutional authority as commander in chief, and the chief executive, to conduct foreign relations."Republican and Democratic lawmakers criticized an earlier strike on a suspected drug boat.“What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial," U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, wrote online after Vice President JD Vance touted the earlier strike.Congressional Democrats wrote the Trump administration a letter on Sept. 10, asking about the legal basis for such strikes."We assert that Congress made no declaration of war nor did it authorize the use of military force for future similar operations," the letter reads. "Classifying a clear law enforcement mission as counterterrorism does not confer legal authority to target and kill civilians."Trump touted the strikes in a speech to military leaders this week, claiming they have reduced boat traffic in the waters off Venezuela."It's amazing what strength will do, because all we want to do is stop drugs from flowing into our country," he said.The Sept. 15 operation killed three people. A Sept. 2 strike on another alleged drug boat killed 11 people.University of Notre Dame Law School professor Mary Ellen O'Connell, an expert on international law, described a Sept. 15 strike by the U.S. military on an alleged drug boat near Venezuela as "unlawful killing.""It only sends the message that compliance with law doesn’t matter to the U.S.," O'Connell said.The strikes are a milestone in increasingly militarized U.S. counterdrug efforts in the region. Trump secretly authorized military force against drug cartels in early August.Contributing: Reuters, Davis Winkie and Josh Meyer
