Your naivete is showing John. We're in the middle of a Colour Revolution. These people tried to assassinate Trump twice. They did kill Charlie. Two National Guardsmen were gunned down by an ex-CIA operative from Afghanistan. The Seditious Six just came out and basically ordered/authorised the military to disobey the President's orders. This is a war for all the marbles. Destroying the globalist cabal in league with the cartels who run Venezuala and have corrupted US elections and disrupted US society with uncontrolled immigration, crime and drugs is necessary. People die in wars every day. This is a war.
Excuse my language, but who the F are "These people?" Not Venezuelans, 2200 miles from the US. Venezuela is NOT "run by" cartels. You want those? Look to the countries with which the US is chummy: Honduras, Ecuador. Their major drug smugglers get pardons. Countries which have shown some independence from the US, and seek to use their own resources to improve conditions in their own countries, get coup'ed, sanctioned, starved, and attacked by Uncle Sam. Get a grip!
In fact it's a warcrime to kill a shipwrecked individual , but more importantly , as per bloody usual the good ol' US Of A thinks it is judge jury and executioner ... really it's pathetic to think , that people actually can justify this nonsense in their minds ....🤷🏻♂️🤦🏾♂️
Well stated, thank you. Since drug smuggling appears ruled out, what were these batsmen doing and why did we take them out? Something at least as threatening but what?
Thanks for the update to the previous post, John. I can agree with your suspicion of government and reluctance to believe any narrative given.
I still say “kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out”
Maybe there is a larger message being sent to Venezuela that we’re unaware of, very possible.
And there is always some political game playing out that’s no doubt involved as always.
But I’ve seen first hand the destruction of these drugs in American communities after 10 years on an ambulance crew. Currently in my city locally, and previous states that I’ve lived in, the destruction certainly warrants this type of response.
I still believe these aren’t fishermen. I agree that the type of boat isn’t ideal for the 2k mile trip but hasn’t stopped the bootleggers before. Of course not, they’re desperate and trying to fly under the radar.
Has there been a single shred of evidence of a fishing pole, even as a novelty…
Has there been a single shred of evidence of drugs on the boats? Anything that would require anything more than the Trinidad and Tobago police/coast guard forces from inspecting the boats? Any other country taking the approach of "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" against US citizens would immediately (and rightfully) be condemned as terrorists and war criminals. Dial down your exceptionalism, and take on board what John has laid out here. He's absolutely right.
Oh yeah: explain Trump pardoning the big-time Honduran drug smuggler at the very same time he's blowing up little fishing boats 2200 miles for US shores.
The U.S. will create evidence, make up stories to get what we want. I don’t believe one word that comes out of their mouth.
We are always the aggressor and act like the imperialist power we are. Snatching and grabbing countries resources as we please, color revolutions, I’m repulsed.
The U.S. wants that Venezuelan oil and to overthrow Maduro and put in a puppet. That is all folks.
Definitely ALL claims by all US governments (and their lapdog) should be treated with extreme caution given their long history of lying and criminality. It has been disappointing to see some previously sceptical commentators suddenly abandon that scepticism and flag wave for what is simply extrajudicial cold-blooded murder because it aligns with their own inclinations and prejudices. Drugs are smuggled from central and south America, but that doesn't mean for an instant that all venuzuelan fishermen are drug smugglers - even if they may indeed smuggle other contraband. Murder is murder and extrajudicial murder among the worst.
No, Protestants and catholic may justify murder as justified, but it remains the ultimate crime for the Orthodox, even in self defense it requires repenance.
However, that's not the point of the comment, which to repeat government extrajudicial murder without evidence or trial or self defense - as is happening in these instances - is evil, criminal and wrong, regardless who does it.
These killing are not justified. John has made the case very clear. You are gulping down the usual bullshit propaganda cocktail served up by every US administration before it destroys another country. Were you alive for the Iraq invasion? Libya? Maybe you're not old enough for Vietnam. But by now you oughta know better.
No, these killings were clearly NOT justified, for all the reasons John laid out. These boats only had the range to make it to Trinidad and Tobago, whose government (very friendly to the US) could inspect them. This is Hegseth, Trump, blood-drenched nutcases like Elliot Abrams all trying to "look tough" as they gin up a coup or invasion in Venezuela. It's bad theater, except people are getting murdered. No charges, no trials, no convictions, nothing but some death-squad leader deciding to "off" them. Again: if drug smuggling really is the issue, explain Trump pardoning the major Honduran smuggler at the same time he's saying these little boats are such a threat to the US that all law is tossed in the dumpster.
What is the evidence of Venezuelan “drug smuggling?”
It’s funny the U.S. targets “drug smuggling” and “terrorism” in only oil producing countries.
Especially those that have democratically elected leaders who want to better the country and the living situation for all the citizens.
It’s funny those that push electricity, the fake climate change agenda and
criticize use of oil are the same ones that will invade, occupy and overthrow the elected presidents of the oil producing countries, as well as murdering innocent civilians to get to that oil.
But you have no evidence yourself of drug smuggling to the US or anywhere else. Your comment is blind rage and vengeance. Civilized societies don't solve problems by randomly killing other people far away on supposition and the assertions of liars
This boat was no immediate threat to the USA whatever it was doing. To kill those people without investigation and due process is murder and discredits the US administration. Maybe first deal with the money laundering through banks in the USA and improve the lives of people so that they are not tempted to wish for narcotic oblivion. Have US agencies said that Venezuela is a major source of drugs?
"Since George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq under false pretenses, I have been in the habit of questioning the military actions of all U.S. administrations."
McNamara admitted that the Gulf of Tonkin was a false flag lie. POTUS Roosevelt knew that the Japanese fleet was going to bomb Hawaii but "let it happen on purpose" (LIHOP).
Bush was just one of the latest in a long line of lied into wars.
John, I too consider these strikes to be morally reprehensible. GWOT era Congress unwisely gave the executive branch its authority to designate certain parties (in this case, the cartels) as terror organizations, and Trump is wielding that authority in order to take out “unlawful combatants”, who have no protections under international law for armed conflict.
The real issue here is that the president can designate anyone who is not a U.S. citizen as a terrorist and then take them out as “unlawful combatants”.
In combat, double-tapping (or dead-checking) is a standard practice when clearing an objective. The first strike did not appear to take out the boat, and the survivors (legally classified as “unlawful combatants”) appeared to be trying to recover the boat, so a second strike on the boat was taken to clear the objective. Once cleared and the area is secured, casualties cannot be shot unless they show hostile intent.
You could argue for war crimes if we had boats in the area with the means to pick up survivors, the survivors appeared to be surrendering, and we chose to shoot again. That’s not the case here though.
Again, I believe these to be morally reprehensible, but the president is simply wielding the power GWOT era Congress ceded to the executive branch to label certain parties as “terror organizations” and their members “unlawful combatants”.
Oh, c’mon Mr. Leake! We know you hate Trump and suffer from TDS. Stop passing yourself off as some kind of naval warfare expert. Aren’t you the same John Leake that said in other posts you write true crime stories? Yeah, we know you are great at doing AI web searches and pulling together lots of words to make it sound like you know what you’re talking about, and apparently you have enough gullible people out there that actually pay for you to bloviate.
Know this: FreeFrench has it right. This is part of a color revolution as documented by Gen. Mike Flynn. Read GEn Flynn's substack posts and educate yourself. Nixon first coined the term “War on Drugs” back in 1971. Yes, and in ANY war, innocent people are killed. Collateral damage. America finally has a president that is actively fighting that war. America has gotten rid of the rainbows and unicorns and fairies and the "I'm a victim" mentality. The NEW message to a violent world that seeks our destruction is we’ve grown a pair. As far as this old Veetnam Army Ranger vet is concerned, in any war, overkill is underrated. Those vatos are collateral damage.
Could go into a long post of why I believe you have read this action wrong, John. But I'm tired of battling the propaganda of the CIA agents in our Congress trying to take down this government. This latest effort to set the grounds for an impeachment and coup does not differ from previous treasonous attempts. Remember when Trump tried to bring the corruption in Ukraine to a close... and they impeached him. If Americans had been a little more insightful in their observations, millions of Ukrainians would still be alive today,
Nothing about this incident surprises in the least. The gangsters that control the US political, economic & military apparatus increasingly appear to want the viewer to see the US as completely lawless & dangerously out of control: a rogue state
Excellent Exposure John! I agree with all your points and few Americans have any idea about the Opium Wars. The Truth is the Truth regardless if no one believes it (because of programming). Unfortunately so many Americans have little knowledge and are guided by the media and the left/right BS!
Yes we must protect our Borders but this has nothing to do with that and is outright murder!
I had exposed after deep research what really happened on 911, the Iraq War, Israel's Control over the USA, Palestine, for decades and the Plandemic and Bioweapon Jab 5 years and discussing it calmly with most of my friends and family (who know I read and research deeply and look at things from 3 perspectives until I find the Truth) was painful and a futile exercise. Only the past year did it change with some of them but mostly because of Tucker and others exposing it just superficially.
Your logic makes sense. It is cruel and perhaps illegal (not sure what laws there are or who enforces them) to kill these people moving drugs from country to country. I feel sorry for the drug runners and their families that were killed. However, the remaining drug runners now know that it is highly dangerous. Perhaps these people shouldn't be involved in the drug trade. That would solve the problem too.
Your naivete is showing John. We're in the middle of a Colour Revolution. These people tried to assassinate Trump twice. They did kill Charlie. Two National Guardsmen were gunned down by an ex-CIA operative from Afghanistan. The Seditious Six just came out and basically ordered/authorised the military to disobey the President's orders. This is a war for all the marbles. Destroying the globalist cabal in league with the cartels who run Venezuala and have corrupted US elections and disrupted US society with uncontrolled immigration, crime and drugs is necessary. People die in wars every day. This is a war.
Very true,
We are in a fight for our survival and have been walking around with a knife in a gunfight for decades. Bout time we caught up a bit.
By your arguments for more bloodshed (without evidence or trial), the execution of any US servicemen in this conflict would be fair and justified.
Not fair. Not justified. But that is the reality in which this asymmetric war is being fought with criminal cartels,
I think you have missed the point. And you're assuming without any evidence that these attacks are against cartels and not just anonymous fishermen
Excuse my language, but who the F are "These people?" Not Venezuelans, 2200 miles from the US. Venezuela is NOT "run by" cartels. You want those? Look to the countries with which the US is chummy: Honduras, Ecuador. Their major drug smugglers get pardons. Countries which have shown some independence from the US, and seek to use their own resources to improve conditions in their own countries, get coup'ed, sanctioned, starved, and attacked by Uncle Sam. Get a grip!
💯
Asymmetric warfare.
Bingo FreeFrench. Couldn't agree with u more!!
In fact it's a warcrime to kill a shipwrecked individual , but more importantly , as per bloody usual the good ol' US Of A thinks it is judge jury and executioner ... really it's pathetic to think , that people actually can justify this nonsense in their minds ....🤷🏻♂️🤦🏾♂️
Well stated, thank you. Since drug smuggling appears ruled out, what were these batsmen doing and why did we take them out? Something at least as threatening but what?
They weren't "shipwrecked."
Thanks for the update to the previous post, John. I can agree with your suspicion of government and reluctance to believe any narrative given.
I still say “kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out”
Maybe there is a larger message being sent to Venezuela that we’re unaware of, very possible.
And there is always some political game playing out that’s no doubt involved as always.
But I’ve seen first hand the destruction of these drugs in American communities after 10 years on an ambulance crew. Currently in my city locally, and previous states that I’ve lived in, the destruction certainly warrants this type of response.
I still believe these aren’t fishermen. I agree that the type of boat isn’t ideal for the 2k mile trip but hasn’t stopped the bootleggers before. Of course not, they’re desperate and trying to fly under the radar.
Has there been a single shred of evidence of a fishing pole, even as a novelty…
Venezuela has oil, and we want it. Good oil. A lot of oil.
If you want to know who the biggest trafficker of illegal drugs is? Ask Sibel Edmonds.
She admitted it is the U.S.
Has there been a single shred of evidence of drugs on the boats? Anything that would require anything more than the Trinidad and Tobago police/coast guard forces from inspecting the boats? Any other country taking the approach of "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out" against US citizens would immediately (and rightfully) be condemned as terrorists and war criminals. Dial down your exceptionalism, and take on board what John has laid out here. He's absolutely right.
Oh yeah: explain Trump pardoning the big-time Honduran drug smuggler at the very same time he's blowing up little fishing boats 2200 miles for US shores.
No evidence at all.
The U.S. will create evidence, make up stories to get what we want. I don’t believe one word that comes out of their mouth.
We are always the aggressor and act like the imperialist power we are. Snatching and grabbing countries resources as we please, color revolutions, I’m repulsed.
The U.S. wants that Venezuelan oil and to overthrow Maduro and put in a puppet. That is all folks.
Couldn’t agree more with the core point here. This isn’t about drugs, it’s about oil (and maybe gold) and geopolitical positioning.
Definitely ALL claims by all US governments (and their lapdog) should be treated with extreme caution given their long history of lying and criminality. It has been disappointing to see some previously sceptical commentators suddenly abandon that scepticism and flag wave for what is simply extrajudicial cold-blooded murder because it aligns with their own inclinations and prejudices. Drugs are smuggled from central and south America, but that doesn't mean for an instant that all venuzuelan fishermen are drug smugglers - even if they may indeed smuggle other contraband. Murder is murder and extrajudicial murder among the worst.
“Murder is murder” is incorrect.
There is a difference in justified killing and immoral murder.
No, Protestants and catholic may justify murder as justified, but it remains the ultimate crime for the Orthodox, even in self defense it requires repenance.
However, that's not the point of the comment, which to repeat government extrajudicial murder without evidence or trial or self defense - as is happening in these instances - is evil, criminal and wrong, regardless who does it.
These killing are not justified. John has made the case very clear. You are gulping down the usual bullshit propaganda cocktail served up by every US administration before it destroys another country. Were you alive for the Iraq invasion? Libya? Maybe you're not old enough for Vietnam. But by now you oughta know better.
I was alive for all those wars. Not a single one of us here, has any knowledge whether the killing was justified or not.
We're just guessing. We don't know what some others in our country know.
No, these killings were clearly NOT justified, for all the reasons John laid out. These boats only had the range to make it to Trinidad and Tobago, whose government (very friendly to the US) could inspect them. This is Hegseth, Trump, blood-drenched nutcases like Elliot Abrams all trying to "look tough" as they gin up a coup or invasion in Venezuela. It's bad theater, except people are getting murdered. No charges, no trials, no convictions, nothing but some death-squad leader deciding to "off" them. Again: if drug smuggling really is the issue, explain Trump pardoning the major Honduran smuggler at the same time he's saying these little boats are such a threat to the US that all law is tossed in the dumpster.
What is the evidence of Venezuelan “drug smuggling?”
It’s funny the U.S. targets “drug smuggling” and “terrorism” in only oil producing countries.
Especially those that have democratically elected leaders who want to better the country and the living situation for all the citizens.
It’s funny those that push electricity, the fake climate change agenda and
criticize use of oil are the same ones that will invade, occupy and overthrow the elected presidents of the oil producing countries, as well as murdering innocent civilians to get to that oil.
💯
WHY WOULD A" FISHING" BOAT HAVE 4 , MASSIVE MOTORS?? THEY CAN BARELY AFFORD THE SMALLEST OF MOTORS- WHICH COMPLETELY SUFFICES...
AND WHY WOULD A" FISHING" BOAT HAVE DOZENS OF LARGE PACKAGES ON BOARD??
AND WHY WOULD THEY SPEND A FORTUNE ON FUEL- GOING AT MAXIMUM SPEED...
ALL YOU WANKERS, WHINING ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS, MAYBE THEY WERE JUST FISHERMEN...
GROW THE FUCK UP, LEARN SOME CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS....
BECAUSE YOUR CRETINS.
NONE OF YOU WILL LIVE WHERE DRUGS HAVE ALL BUT DESTROYED SOCIETY, OR HAVE KIDS WHOSE LIVES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED...
LIKE THE CGUNTZZ WHO WHINGE ON ABOUT THE NON- STATE OF PALESTINE...
THE US DOESN'T SPEND TENS OF THOUSANDS, TO JUST FLY OUT+ KILL AT RANDOM...
A BLOODY TEENAGER CAN WORK OUT WHAT THESE BOATS ARE DOING...
IT'S A PITY YOU BRAINDEADS AREN'T IN THEM...
WE NEED A MASSIVE CLEAR OUT OF THE GENE POOL, OF MOANING IDIOTS.
But you have no evidence yourself of drug smuggling to the US or anywhere else. Your comment is blind rage and vengeance. Civilized societies don't solve problems by randomly killing other people far away on supposition and the assertions of liars
UNLIKE YOU, PODGY, I CAN SEE CLEARLY, WITH MY EYES, I CAN DEDUCE FROM SOMEONES ACTIONS...
YOUR THE TYPE OF MORON WHO GETS DROPPED BY A MUGGER...
SEE HIM COMING TOWARDS YOU...
AND PUT YOUR HAND OUT TO SHAKE...
HE'S NOT ORDERING NORWEGIAN, CAMBODIAN, IRISH, MALTEZE, ROMANIAN BOATS TO BE HIT...
JUST OBVIOUS SMUGGLERS...
WISH YOU AND THE OTHER CLOWNS WHINGEING HERE WERE ON BOARD...
UTTER NOBODIES, WHO THINK THEY KNOW MORE THAN EXPERTS WATCHING THE BOATS IN REAL- TIME.
COMPLETE WASTE OF SPACE.
This boat was no immediate threat to the USA whatever it was doing. To kill those people without investigation and due process is murder and discredits the US administration. Maybe first deal with the money laundering through banks in the USA and improve the lives of people so that they are not tempted to wish for narcotic oblivion. Have US agencies said that Venezuela is a major source of drugs?
"Since George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq under false pretenses, I have been in the habit of questioning the military actions of all U.S. administrations."
McNamara admitted that the Gulf of Tonkin was a false flag lie. POTUS Roosevelt knew that the Japanese fleet was going to bomb Hawaii but "let it happen on purpose" (LIHOP).
Bush was just one of the latest in a long line of lied into wars.
John, I too consider these strikes to be morally reprehensible. GWOT era Congress unwisely gave the executive branch its authority to designate certain parties (in this case, the cartels) as terror organizations, and Trump is wielding that authority in order to take out “unlawful combatants”, who have no protections under international law for armed conflict.
The real issue here is that the president can designate anyone who is not a U.S. citizen as a terrorist and then take them out as “unlawful combatants”.
In combat, double-tapping (or dead-checking) is a standard practice when clearing an objective. The first strike did not appear to take out the boat, and the survivors (legally classified as “unlawful combatants”) appeared to be trying to recover the boat, so a second strike on the boat was taken to clear the objective. Once cleared and the area is secured, casualties cannot be shot unless they show hostile intent.
You could argue for war crimes if we had boats in the area with the means to pick up survivors, the survivors appeared to be surrendering, and we chose to shoot again. That’s not the case here though.
Again, I believe these to be morally reprehensible, but the president is simply wielding the power GWOT era Congress ceded to the executive branch to label certain parties as “terror organizations” and their members “unlawful combatants”.
Oh, c’mon Mr. Leake! We know you hate Trump and suffer from TDS. Stop passing yourself off as some kind of naval warfare expert. Aren’t you the same John Leake that said in other posts you write true crime stories? Yeah, we know you are great at doing AI web searches and pulling together lots of words to make it sound like you know what you’re talking about, and apparently you have enough gullible people out there that actually pay for you to bloviate.
Know this: FreeFrench has it right. This is part of a color revolution as documented by Gen. Mike Flynn. Read GEn Flynn's substack posts and educate yourself. Nixon first coined the term “War on Drugs” back in 1971. Yes, and in ANY war, innocent people are killed. Collateral damage. America finally has a president that is actively fighting that war. America has gotten rid of the rainbows and unicorns and fairies and the "I'm a victim" mentality. The NEW message to a violent world that seeks our destruction is we’ve grown a pair. As far as this old Veetnam Army Ranger vet is concerned, in any war, overkill is underrated. Those vatos are collateral damage.
Could go into a long post of why I believe you have read this action wrong, John. But I'm tired of battling the propaganda of the CIA agents in our Congress trying to take down this government. This latest effort to set the grounds for an impeachment and coup does not differ from previous treasonous attempts. Remember when Trump tried to bring the corruption in Ukraine to a close... and they impeached him. If Americans had been a little more insightful in their observations, millions of Ukrainians would still be alive today,
Nothing about this incident surprises in the least. The gangsters that control the US political, economic & military apparatus increasingly appear to want the viewer to see the US as completely lawless & dangerously out of control: a rogue state
Excellent Exposure John! I agree with all your points and few Americans have any idea about the Opium Wars. The Truth is the Truth regardless if no one believes it (because of programming). Unfortunately so many Americans have little knowledge and are guided by the media and the left/right BS!
Yes we must protect our Borders but this has nothing to do with that and is outright murder!
I had exposed after deep research what really happened on 911, the Iraq War, Israel's Control over the USA, Palestine, for decades and the Plandemic and Bioweapon Jab 5 years and discussing it calmly with most of my friends and family (who know I read and research deeply and look at things from 3 perspectives until I find the Truth) was painful and a futile exercise. Only the past year did it change with some of them but mostly because of Tucker and others exposing it just superficially.
Your logic makes sense. It is cruel and perhaps illegal (not sure what laws there are or who enforces them) to kill these people moving drugs from country to country. I feel sorry for the drug runners and their families that were killed. However, the remaining drug runners now know that it is highly dangerous. Perhaps these people shouldn't be involved in the drug trade. That would solve the problem too.
You only assume they're drug runners claim without evidence that they are. No one knows that and no evidence has ever actually been presented.
In any "war" of any kind, there will be collateral damage. You're wrong, JL.
It doesn't have to occur in US Coastal Waters for what happened to be legal.
You raise a number of good points and I can agree. We must maintain a wise, long game stance.