The US military: The new pirates of the Caribbean

The attacks against alleged drug boats are lawless

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Editorials

October 29, 2025 - 5:58 PM

U.S. Marines’ Lockheed Martin F35-B jets arrive in formation to José Aponte de la Torre Airport in Puerto Rico. President Donald Trump sent 10 of the fighter jets to join US warships already deployed to the southern Caribbean in his attacks against alleged “narco-terrorists.” (Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

There’s a name for attacks on civilian ships on the high seas: Piracy. That’s also an unfortunately plausible description of the Trump administration’s bombings of vessels around South America that it says are carrying drugs.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military announced it had struck four vessels and killed 14 people in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Dozens have now been slain in at least 10 attacks there and around the Caribbean. “These narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same,”

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