Even if they WERE gang members, civilized nations do not shoot civilians.
They could have boarded the ship and detained them, but they chose violence.
this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025
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Venezuela says none of 11 killed in US boat strike were Tren de Aragua members
(www.theguardian.com)
They even admitted they could've interdicted the boat, but chose to kill them instead.
It was 100% absolutely, unquestionably a war crime.
And even if Trump is immune, the rest of those involved are NOT. Some of them are lawyering up, because war crimes can carry a death penalty.
Is it still a war crime without a war? I'm not trying to split hairs or justify the crime, just wondering about definitions. A quick search didn't really clarify it. Violation of international law, absolutely. And who would prosecute? I don't think the US has allowed itself to be subjugated to any international court.
You're correct, the ICC's jurisdiction has never been recognized by the US, or a bunch of other countries for that matter. They could still prosecute individuals and convict them, but the US wouldn't hand them over, and it's not likely that anyone would attempt to come get them.
There is a pretty large number of ICC fugatives from all over the world, notably Russian and Israeli officials. Afaik, France and the UK are the only two UN members with veto power that recognize the ICC's official jurisdiction.
It technically may not even be a breach of international law, since the US is one of the few countries that did not ratify UNCLOS, the law that would apply in international waters. The US was evil for a long time and refused to sign anything that would hold them even symbolically accountable. This did not start with Trump. He just went mask off.
Only one soldier ever faced consequences for the My Lai massacre and he only got three and a half years of house arrest, so it’s not like we care that much about war crimes anyway.
The only person in Washington talking sense about this is... Wait, let me double check. Uh, yea it's Rand Paul.
You know things are bad when the voice of reason is Rand Paul
That Rand Paul is the voice of reason bodes very very badly.
I know they're probably full of shit like any corrupt politicians, but it's nice to have them fight back. Even if they were convicted gang members, the US murdered all of them. I hope they spend the next few years fucking with this administration as much as possible. We need to get back to that place where locals fling shoes at our politicians, because we suck and need to back the fuck off.
The thing with blowing them up instead of taking them into custody, is that there is no evidence to prove the allegations against them. They blew it up. If they really wanted to justify their actions, this was not the way.
We know they probably weren't just speedboat enthusiasts but blowing the boat up sets a precedent for extrajudicial killing without first establishing guilt.
Of course, this had nothing to do with justice, it was only about sending a very visual message to the other cartels that only US backed cartels are allowed.
Given that Venezuela has chronic shortages of almost everything, these days...it's entirely possible they were smugglers. But they could have been smuggling anything from mail-order packages, to cash, or even medicine. We'll never know now.
This will just motivate Venezuela to hurry around their military modernization effort possibly with a lot more public support than before
I don't trust Trump about this, but I trust Venezuela about as much as I trust Trump.
Eh, Trump is absolute bottom of my list. Even if it's by a barely measurable amount, I trust everyone more than Trump. No exceptions.
Just because you haven't heard as much from Nicolas Maduro. Maduro's (lack of) connection to reality is similar to Trump's. In a slightly different world they would be best buddies.
No
I meant what I said, to and frankly can do without the insulting tone.
All else being equal, the guy who destroys all the evidence is less trustworthy.
have you heard why there were 11 drug dealers together on a small boat and where they were supposed to be going?
when we asked in the towns, none were from Tren de Aragua, none were drug traffickers
Both sides provided "trust me, bro" as their proof.
Ok but the usa is the one who attacked so they are the one who has to provide evident. Venezuela doesn't have to prove anything
Even if they were gang members smuggling drugs, that's still not how the law is dealt in the civilized world. They're still civilians and it's still murder.
Agree i only debated that part of your previous comment Both sides provided "trust me, bro" as their proof.
There is only one side who should provide proofs with is the USA
I mean obviously Trump and his goons are full of shit but so is Maduro. Is the any actual information about who these murder victims were and what they were doing? Just curious…
Doesn't matter. It's a war crime either way.
Like I said I’m just curious. Although there is no war so I think mass murder is maybe a more appropriate term?
It is a war crime as defined by the International Court. You don't have to be in a formal war to commit a war crime.
Doesn't matter if it's a war crime if there's no way to prosecute anyone.
....and the right says "well it was the liberals' fault so can you blame us??"
Big fucking surprise.