Trump’s Marine Murders
We don’t need courts. We don’t need trials. The government should simply decide who is guilty and execute them immediately.
That is the Trump regime’s policy towards people it accuses of drug smuggling at sea.
Over the past six weeks, the US has bombed boats in the Caribbean Sea at least six times, killing at least 27 people. Washington says they were “narcoterrorists” and so…
And so… what exactly? If the government declares you a criminal, they can then just kill you?
I know quite a few people who are in favor of the death penalty, even for drug-related crimes. We disagree on that, but I respect that they realize there should at least be a trial first. The accused should be given a chance to defend themselves in a court of law. They should be represented by a lawyer. The trial should be fair.
The government shouldn’t just murder people when it wants.
And that’s what’s happening here. Legal experts call these “unlawful extrajudicial killings”, and it’s just “murder – plain and simple”.
What’s more, information surrounding these killings is murky at best. Details of the murders come primarily from the murderers themselves. Even the number of victims – 27 – comes from the US administration. The fate of possible survivors is kept secret.
When non-regime reports do emerge, it seems Washington may not even know who they are murdering.
Suspicions are these strikes are simply part of build up toward military action against Venezuela. US military forces have been gathering in the southern Caribbean, Trump has threatened military force against Venezuela, and Trump has authorized covert CIA operations there.
But whatever the political reason for Trump’s marine murders, there is no legal or moral justification for them. The Trump regime is acting as executioner, without any trials for the accused. If you have any respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law, you know this is way beyond what a government should be allowed to do.
It’s another example of increasing authoritarian rule by a White House that respects no limits to its power – not rights, not judges, not courts, not the law.
Of course, these murders are offshore, out of sight. Some Americans may not think much about them or about the potential precedent they set.
But if a government can just murder whoever it wants, whenever it wants, what can’t it do?
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Readers Reply:
Some readers of my post about Trump’s assault on US cities got in touch to point out it is not just about signaling white supremacy over blacks. In Chicago, that tracks. However, in Los Angeles it’s mainly against immigrants – though clearly still related to white supremacy in my view, through the absurd “replacement” conspiracy theory scare tactic. Portland doesn’t quite fit, they note. Fair enough, that’s more an attack on perceived political enemies. But we all agree: in no case are federal troops needed.
On a related note, see this AFP Factcheck exposing how the White House is blatantly lying about all this: “White House’s Chicago ‘chaos’ video uses footage from other cities”
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Quick links:
#NoKings: October 18 is going to be a big protest day in the US. A group calling itself the “Antifa Tabernacle Choir” has sent me this recording in preparation for #NoKings protest on 18 October.
No independence: Dave Keating’s “Gulf Stream Blues” offers a solid examination of the cross-Atlantic arms deals in support of Ukraine as it faces Russia’s atrocity-ridden invasion. “Eastern and Northern European defence ministers have agreed to an extortionate American demand to pay to be middlemen in Ukraine arms delivery—further locking in Europe's military dependence.”
No support for democracy: Nate Schenkkan latest piece in Foreign Policy is worth a read: “Trump Is Supporting Transnational Repression”. The US should be sheltering pro-democracy dissidents who’ve had to flee their countries. Instead, it is returning them to human rights hellholes like Russia and Iran, where they face arrest, torture, and death.
No memory: A long read by the ever-excellent M. Gessen looks at the efforts of Francesca Albanese (United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories) and the state of international justice today. “It took the destruction of European Jewry for the world to recognize the crime of genocide and to promise never to let it happen again. The genocide in Gaza may have ended. Will the death and destruction it brought make the world deliver on its promise?”
No, not China: This primer on Taiwan from Melissa Chan is stuffed with facts I didn’t know. One example: “If you’re at the Beijing airport flying to Taipei … You do so out of the international terminal, even though China insists Taiwan is a ‘province.’” I’ll bet there are at least three things in this great piece you didn’t know, too: “What you're not hearing about Taiwan”
No social media for kids: “Is social media rewiring childhood and fueling a mental health crisis?” In a super episode of StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt looks at the grim impacts of growing up in the social media age and “how to take back childhood.” Listen to “The Anxious Generation” on Apple Podcasts or elsewhere. The science will change how you think about social media.
No shame in self-promotion: I gave an interview with ZN a while back on today’s geopolitical landscape, Europe at war, an emboldened Kremlin, and a Western alliance showing signs of strain.
