On Wednesday, Dec. 17—less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump announced an oil blockade on Venezuela—the U.S. military committed yet another strike against a boat alleged to be smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The military stated that it killed four persons in its latest “lethal kinetic strike.” This brought to 99 the number of people murdered in U.S. boat strikes since early September.
The U.S. Navy has reduced itself to the pirate force of the oceans.
The further inhumanity of this barbarity is shown by the anonymity of those killed. They are faceless, nameless, and even lack nationality. It as if they were all inanimate objects.
Under Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted by the United Nations in 1948, there is the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. It reads in pertinent part as follows: “Everyone charged with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.”
To begin with, none of the slain individuals has even been charged with an offense. This is all one grand hoax that has taken the lives of 99 persons and is comparable to and reminiscent of the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) used as a pretext for the invasion of Iraq by the George W. Bush administration.
That said then, Trump, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Admiral Frank Bradley, and all the way down the chain of command—all of the military involved—are unambiguously, unequivocally guilty of war crimes in the murder of 99 human beings, with no proof of any wrongdoing, no presumption of innocence, and no proof that any crime was ever committed.
In fact, those 99 poor souls were not even charged with any offense, only the bombastic accusations of a so-called president abundantly well known to be a pathological liar.
Racist “lynch law” on the high seas
The killing of dozens of people of color without the slightest of due process can only be characterized as racist lynch law in the international arena.
Disturbing in the incident also is lack of any significant hue and cry from the American public over this heinous slaughter. Instead, there is a debate ongoing over whether it was illegal to kill two survivors of an obviously illegal missile strike on a small outboard motor boat on Sept. 2.
Poor Admiral Bradley seems to not know up from down or backward from forward. He has said that the boat blown up on Sept. 2 was not even headed for the U.S. but was instead on its way to Suriname, with its ultimate destination being Europe or Africa. An outboard motor boat, mind you! More absurdity.
Did the confused Admiral Bradley forget to say that the motor boat was supposed to be headed for the U.S.?
Obviously, an outboard motor boat cannot traverse the high seas. This writer can speak from experience with such craft having spent much of my childhood on an outboard motor boat with my father, who was largely self-employed as a commercial fisherman. Outboard motor boats are for rivers and lakes or coastal fishing, not intercontinental ocean travel.
The case of the boat strikes, from all indications, involved hungry people just fishing who have been blown to bits.
The Trump boat strikes are cut and dry violations of international law and are heinous homicides by any moral or legal standard. This is in violation of the criteria promulgated by the Nuremberg trials of the Nazi war criminals.
Trump has degraded the U.S. Navy to a force of brigands who should be flying the skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger flag instead of the stars and stripes—especially when you consider that the military is now also seizing and stealing Venezuelan ships.
Trump should be charged, along with Hegseth and all their compliant cronies all the way down the chain of command, with war crimes before the International Court of Justice.
Under domestic law, Trump would be charged with the murder of 99 innocent individuals, and under international law, he would be a war criminal guilty of crimes against humanity. Where is the outrage of the world?
I must reiterate, as an attorney, that the murder of dozens of innocent persons under specious allegations, on mere suspicion postulated by Trump, a known criminal and notorious fabricator, is violative of international law and morally outrageous. Where is the world condemnation?
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, the views reflected here are those of the author.
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!
CONTRIBUTOR
