US Vice President JD Vance on Saturday defended America’s strike on a Venezuelan drug-cartel boat in the southern Caribbean, dismissing criticism from a political commentator.
Vance shot back with a cuss word after Brian Krassenstein wrote on X that “killing the citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime.”
A day after the strike, Vance called it the “best use of military,” writing on X: “Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military.”
Several international and maritime law experts have questioned the legality of the US strike on the Venezuelan vessel, with some saying Washington may have acted unlawfully.
The US is not a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, though military legal advisors have previously argued that America should "act in a manner consistent with its provisions."
The US military killed 11 people on Tuesday in the strike on a vessel allegedly carrying narcotics, President Donald Trump confirmed, marking the first known operation since his administration’s recent deployment of warships to the region.
“We just, over the last few minutes, literally shot out a boat, a drug-carrying boat, a lot of drugs in that boat,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“And there’s more where that came from. We have a lot of drugs pouring into our country, coming in for a long time ... These came out of Venezuela,” he added.
Trump later shared a video on Truth Social showing drone footage of a speedboat exploding and catching fire. “The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this strike,” he said.
According to Trump, the US military identified the crew as members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which Washington designated as a terrorist group in February. Trump reiterated allegations that the gang is controlled by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, accusations Caracas has denied.
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