The U.S. military has killed at least 21 people in recent strikes on small boats off the coast of Venezuela — attacks President Donald Trump says are part of an “armed conflict” with drug cartels. But according to data and experts cited by The New York Times, the operation is unlikely to significantly disrupt the flow of cocaine or fentanyl into the United States, since Venezuela plays only a marginal role in the global drug trade.

  • Ilixtze@lemmy.ml
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    3 days ago

    Bomb striking fisherman won’t stop the drug the drug flow. I am glad we asked the experts for that obvious assessment. How much money does it take to run those military ships? How much taxpayer money is being wasted in that useless sabre rattling?

  • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Not to mention that it is about 2000 miles by sea from Venezuela to the US and there is no fucking way a speed boat has large enough fuel tanks for that. It’s a blatant lie that these boats are headed for US ports.

  • Bridger@sh.itjust.works
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    3 days ago

    The us law enforcement machine has never wanted to stop the flow of drugs to the USA. What they want to do is profit from it.

    • Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      America has one of the largest drug economies in the world. If they wanted to fix the drug problems they’d ask why Americans feel the need to use in the first place

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    3 days ago

    The U.S. military has killed murdered at least 21 people in recent strikes on small boats off the coast of Venezuela

    If I accidentally crash my car into a pedestrian, then I killed him

    If I use a ship of ear to fire him to the bottom of the ocean without trial, then I murdered him

  • TomMasz@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    The criteria for “expert” seems to have devolved into “is alive”. Meanwhile, fishermen are being killed for the crime of being on the water with a boat.

  • TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Like the current administration gives a shit about what “experts” have to say. As far as Trumpers are concerned, they’re their own experts, and their expertise comes from the fact that they believe they are smarter than everyone else. Or, more accurately, they’re extremely insecure and they try to compensate by pretending - by faking it until they make it - at being smart. They do this by simply acting confident in their positions (even if their positions are complete nonsense and verifiably false) and refusing to back down.

    • Exactly, they are also saying they are fighting battles across the US against ANTIFA, and they won’t stop until all are destroyed or captured…

      *looks outside

      “What war are you fucking talking about?”

  • IWW4@lemmy.zip
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    3 days ago

    When the fuck will we (Americans) figure out that the war on drugs won’t work?.. I don’t have the answer but it is easy to see what isn’t…

    • superniceperson@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      When building fascism one must have an eternal enemy. One that is contradictorily infinitely strong and weak. One that you can never actually eliminate, but one you can always dangle as an absolute visage of fear. Even better if you yourself, as the one building fascism, can create and control said enemy.

      The problem with picking an actual race, is you run out of them eventually. If you pick an ideology, well, you cant control its effects or the number of members effectively.

      But drugs? And drug ‘dealers’? And countries that ‘make drugs’? That’s an enemy infinitely strong and infinitely weak, one that can be taken out by a drone strike but that will worm its way in anyway, one that you can control just by invading a country and making its farmers grow poppies(afghanistan) or by funding cartels to do it themselves (Colombian gangs still receive cia funding).

      And best of all you can get people to blame the victims and whoever you uphold as the source of these drugs, so no one can actually speak out against your regime.

      • shawn1122@sh.itjust.works
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        3 days ago

        This sounds like regular flavor imperialism. Though there is a lot of overlap. With fascism you need an internal enemy which in this governments case is illegal immigrants.

    • Zagam@piefed.social
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      3 days ago

      Its not about drugs. Its about for profit prisons staying in business, keeping a voter base down, feeding the class/race divide, and providingva “bad guy” to blame.