US strikes another boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four, amid escalating questions about its counter-drug offensive

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: CNN

Politics - 3 min read

US strikes another boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four, amid escalating questions about its counter-drug offensive

By Samantha Waldenberg
Updated 1 hr 3 min ago
Updated Dec 4, 2025, 8:38 PM ET
PUBLISHED Dec 4, 2025, 7:04 PM ET


This screengrab from a video posted by the US Southern Command shows a strike on a vessel on December 4, at the direction of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. (US Southern Command/X)

The US military carried out a strike Thursday on a suspected drug boat in the Eastern Pacific, killing four people on board, according to a social media post from US Southern Command.

"Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and transiting along a known narco-trafficking route in the Eastern Pacific. Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed," the post says. (1)

Alongside the post is a 21-second-long video showing the boat being struck.

Thursday's strike comes as the Pentagon is facing bipartisan criticism over a September attack on an alleged drug vessel in which the military fired follow-up strikes, killing surviving crew members. At least 87 people have now been killed in strikes on 23 suspected drug boats as part of a campaign, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, that the Trump administration has said is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking.

US Navy Adm. Frank "Mitch" Bradley briefed leaders on Capitol Hill Thursday about that September incident in what is the most significant congressional scrutiny of the president's military campaign in the Caribbean so far.

{snip}

(1)

Link to tweet

?s20

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/04/politics/us-strike-eastern-pacific-drug-boat

[J_William_Ryan]

1. "The US military carried out a strike Thursday..."

Trump murdered innocent civilians Thursday.

And even if they’re involved in smuggling drugs, they aren’t part of a ‘terrorist organization’ and the drugs being smuggled don’t pose a threat to the US.

[Martin68]

2. Just digging themselves deeper into the war crime hole.

[Bayard]

3. Murderers!

Its like playing a video game to them. No consequences, and we get to see things explode! If this turns into a land war these guys are going to find out real quick what its like to be shot at.

Somebody make this idiocy STOP!

[ananda]

4. Very badly worded

US strikes another boat in the Eastern Pacific,
killing four, amid alsrm over the murderous
crminality of its counter-drug offensive


That's better.

[Aussie105]

5. Some wordsmithing going on there . . .

MSN is good at that.
They can make government sanctioned murder sound like a normal everyday thing by using the carefully considered 'right' words.

Unconfirmed and unrecorded comment from Kegsbreath:

"Yeah, we killed some people, in international waters too, we had no actual evidence they were being naughty, but we spiked them from a great height, because we wanted to, and we could. It felt good! "

Kegsbreath then went on and mumbled something about . . . Nobel peace prize . . . greatest military leader since Patton . . . fog of war . . .
Aides had to help him out of view as he staggered around somewhat intoxicated.

[summer_in_TX]

6. The Trump administration's pretext has giant holes in it.

If they wanted to stop drugs coming to the U.S., they would stop boats in route to the Yucatán ports in Mexico. These boats being struck off the coast of Venezuela are heading to the ABC Islands. Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao belong to the Dutch and are a well-known stop for drugs en route to Europe.

They aren't trying to save Americans from drugs at all. All about Venezuela, oil and gas, and Maduro.

[Drum]

7. Brinksmanship with Congress, no?

And this immediately after freeing someone who flooded the U.S. with coke.

He’s daring Congress to object…or ride it out.