The old policy was to just pull the boats over and search them.
I wonder if there are any practical law enforcement benefits with the new “kill first, ask questions later” policy.
The article doesn’t say much about this. Like were US Coast Guard getting injured in raids, or overwhelmed by the time it took to search the boats? How many suspected boats were innocent? How many that were turned loose showed up full of coke later?
rayiner · 5m ago
[delayed]
dlachausse · 19m ago
This definitely ups the deterrence factor, eliminates 5 drug smuggling cartel members, and takes away one of their boats.
t-writescode · 7m ago
It just kills the mules and various low-level people or lackeys. Could also kill some of the family-people who are under the local feudal lord (drug cartel leadership)
No comments yet
esseph · 3m ago
[delayed]
rayiner · 27m ago
Gangs in Latin America strike me as similar to Islamists in Muslim countries. They are huge threats to the state’s monopoly on violence, and the best solution seems to be treating them as military targets.
In Bangladesh there was a terrorist attack in 2016 in a nicer part of Dhaka popular with expatriates: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50570243. I was very worried the country would descend into the situation you see in Pakistan where the state has a questionable level of control over the country. But the military mounted an extreme response against the Islamists, killing hundreds of Islamists. So far, there hasn’t been any significant terrorist attacks in the country since.
This may not be a viable strategy in places like Afghanistan, where you have a radicalized population with a deep well of potential combatants. But it seems to be a viable strategy somewhere that there’s a finite supply of potential combatants who are willing to die for the cause.
29athrowaway · 17m ago
"You must not fight too often with one enemy or you will teach him all your art of war." - Napoleon
Ancapistani · 1m ago
I’m 99% sure that was Sun Tzu…
neilv · 15m ago
Who added the peppy dramatic musical score, to the video of a boat being destroyed, and people killed? WSJ?
shawn_w · 12m ago
Probably whichever PR flack in the Trump administration that released it. Making it look like something out of a movie is right up their alley.
Indeed. Claimed to be Tren de Aragua. It would be nice if US media actually checked into the existence of that gang, MS13, and any other such bogeymen before taking this (or any) administration's word on anything. At least the Journal did quote Ambassador Feeley on how it used to be done.
jleyank · 38m ago
Given that drug cartels aren't noted for kindness, I would think this raises the risk level for any gringo anywhere in Central or South America. Can't see them targeting the military, but everybody else better look over their shoulder. And if (when?) it escalates... Tom Clancy wrote this story back then, and (spoiler alert) the hero is the hero because he calls it off.
I wonder if there are any practical law enforcement benefits with the new “kill first, ask questions later” policy.
The article doesn’t say much about this. Like were US Coast Guard getting injured in raids, or overwhelmed by the time it took to search the boats? How many suspected boats were innocent? How many that were turned loose showed up full of coke later?
No comments yet
In Bangladesh there was a terrorist attack in 2016 in a nicer part of Dhaka popular with expatriates: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50570243. I was very worried the country would descend into the situation you see in Pakistan where the state has a questionable level of control over the country. But the military mounted an extreme response against the Islamists, killing hundreds of Islamists. So far, there hasn’t been any significant terrorist attacks in the country since.
This may not be a viable strategy in places like Afghanistan, where you have a radicalized population with a deep well of potential combatants. But it seems to be a viable strategy somewhere that there’s a finite supply of potential combatants who are willing to die for the cause.