Through these actions, Trump expands executive power by applying military tactics in civilian contexts, blurring the line between domestic security and foreign warfare.
By Joshua Collins
The announcement of another US strike on a civilian vessel near Venezuela brings the total killed by US actions in the Caribbean to at least 21 people. The bombings, which some legal experts have described as extrajudicial executions, are the latest in a series of attempts by US President Donald Trump to expand presidential power by bringing the “War on Terror” to the Americas.
Shortly after announcing the attack, Trump claimed on social media that the boat was “loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE” and implied it was “entering American Territory” (it was 1,600 miles from Florida).
This is the fourth such strike officially announced to the public by the US government, although Trump, in comments to the press after the second strike, claimed there was another strike that the media was unaware of at the time.
Both Trump and his Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, described the targets as “narco-terrorists.” They provided no proof of their accusations.
US officials have increasingly used “terrorism” rhetoric against organized crime groups in the region. The Trump administration has designated more than 10 criminal organizations in the region as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).
On Oct 2, the White House notified Congress that the Trump administration considers drug cartels “unlawful combatants” and “terrorists,” with which the United States is engaged in “non-international armed conflict.”
Trump has repeatedly claimed that cartels are effectively waging war on the US and is now arguing that the designation as FTOs grants him broad war powers.
Drugs are “killing hundreds of thousands” of people in the US, he has stated in press briefings and in social media posts, comparing cocaine and fentanyl to “weapons of mass destruction.”
Taken together, all of these actions define a new hybridization of two long-running justifications for violent US actions abroad: the ‘War on Drugs’ and the ‘War on Terror.”
Strategies and tactics developed by previous US administrations in both spheres are now being used in conjunction in the Americas. And, like previous administrations, they are being used to expand executive power. Trump, however, is taking that expansion of his power to new levels and bringing those wars home to the US.
Source: Pirate Wire Services
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