On Sept. 2 and 15, the United States military carried out unprecedented strikes against vessels suspected of narcotics trafficking in the Caribbean, destroying the vessels and reportedly killing 14 people on board the vessels. The Trump administration has said more such strikes will follow. In this collection, experts analyze the legality of the strikes under domestic and international law, the ways in which suspected narcotics trafficking at sea is normally addressed by the U.S. government and how these strikes deviate from that practice, the consequences for when and how the president may unilaterally order the military to employ lethal force, the applicability of domestic criminal laws prohibiting murder and international human rights law prohibiting extrajudicial killing, and a range of related issues.
- Brian Finucane, “Asserting a License to Kill: Why the Caribbean Strike is a Dangerous Departure from the “War on Terror” (September 15, 2025)
- Marty Lederman, “The Many Ways in Which the September 2 Caribbean Strike was Unlawful … and the Grave Line the Military Has Crossed” (September 10, 2025)
- Michael Schmitt, “Striking Drug Cartels Under the Jus ad Bellum and Law of Armed Conflict” (September 10, 2025)
- Tess Bridgeman, Brian Finucane, Rebecca Ingber “The Just Security Podcast: Murder on the High Seas? What You Need to Know about the U.S. Strike on the Caribbean Vessel” (September 9, 2025, also available on YouTube)
- Mark Nevitt, “Using Labels, Not Law, to Justify Lethal Force: Inside the Venezuelan Boat Strike” (September 5, 2025)
- Brian Finucane, “Legal Issues Raised by a Lethal U.S. Military Attack in the Caribbean” (September 3, 2025)
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