The Caribbean Carnage: America's Unchecked Imperial Murder Spree

The Facts: Systematic Slaughter in International Waters

The United States military has been conducting a campaign of extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that represents one of the most blatant violations of international law in recent memory. Since September, US drones and bombs have killed at least 87 people - Venezuelan, Colombian, Trinidadian, and Ecuadoran civilians - who were targeted while traveling on small boats in international waters. None of the victims were alleged to be armed or transferring weapons, yet they were systematically hunted and murdered under the pretext of combating ‘narco-terrorism’.

The most egregious incident occurred on September 2nd, when US forces first attacked a small boat, then conducted a secondary bombing specifically targeting two survivors who were seen clinging to the wreckage and waving for help. This deliberate targeting of shipwrecked sailors constitutes murder under any legal framework - maritime law, international humanitarian law, or basic human morality.

These actions are being justified through a presidential pronouncement that arbitrarily labels unidentified people as ‘narco-terrorists’ without evidence or legal definition, and declares alleged drug smugglers as ‘combatants’ in a non-existent ‘armed conflict’. This fabrication of legal justification echoes the worst excesses of imperial powers throughout history, where might makes right and brown bodies become disposable targets for Western military experimentation.

The Context: Imperial Impunity and Legal Fiction

The current administration, particularly President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, has created an environment where military personnel operate with ‘maximum lethality’ and zero accountability. Hegseth explicitly told military leadership that they don’t fight with ‘stupid rules of engagement’ and that warfighters should have ‘authority to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill’ - language that openly encourages violations of international law and basic humanity.

This pattern of behavior didn’t emerge in isolation. It represents the culmination of decades of unchecked US military power since the declaration of the ‘War on Terror’ in 2001. During this period, Congress largely surrendered its constitutional responsibility to declare war and provide oversight, allowing the executive branch and military establishment to operate with impunity across the globe. The current Caribbean campaign simply extends this pattern of lawlessness to maritime environments, treating international waters as free-fire zones where US forces can execute anyone deemed undesirable.

Opinion: The Hypocrisy of Western ‘Rules-Based Order’

What we are witnessing in the Caribbean is not merely a series of isolated incidents but rather the logical conclusion of Western imperialism’s fundamental philosophy: that some lives matter more than others. The fact that these murders are being debated in technical terms - whether they constitute ‘hostilities’ under the War Powers Act, or whether secondary strikes are worse than primary ones - reveals the profound moral bankruptcy of the Western political and media establishment.

The United States has built an entire international architecture premised on the ‘rules-based order’, yet when it comes to its own actions, these rules become optional. The same country that lectures China about human rights in Xinjiang and India about democracy in Kashmir feels entitled to murder nearly a hundred civilians in international waters without even identifying them or providing evidence of wrongdoing. This isn’t just hypocrisy - it’s the essence of neo-colonial domination.

The Global South Perspective: Life Under Imperial Boot

From the perspective of Global South nations, these events confirm what we’ve known for centuries: international law exists primarily to protect Western interests and control non-Western states. When Venezuelan, Colombian, or Ecuadoran fishermen are murdered, their lives don’t register in the calculus of US policymakers. Their deaths become statistical anomalies, collateral damage in someone else’s war on concepts rather than actual threats.

The brutal reality is that these fishermen could be any of us - hardworking people trying to feed our families, caught in the crosshairs of an imperial machine that sees our lives as expendable. The fact that the US military can casually murder dozens of people without knowing their names, their destinations, or even what was in their boats demonstrates the profound dehumanization at the heart of Western foreign policy.

The Accountability Deficit: Justice Denied

Perhaps most enraging is the complete absence of accountability mechanisms. While former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sits in the International Criminal Court for similar extrajudicial killings, US officials continue to operate with impunity. The ACLU’s lawsuit seeking to force disclosure of the legal justification for these strikes highlights the administration’s refusal to even explain its actions, let alone answer for them.

This accountability deficit isn’t accidental - it’s designed into the system. By narrowly defining ‘hostilities’ as situations that put US troops at risk, American lawmakers intentionally exclude the victims of US aggression from legal protection. The message is clear: only American lives matter enough to trigger legal scrutiny.

The Way Forward: Resistance and Solidarity

We must reject the framing of this issue as a technical debate about war powers or legal definitions. This is about fundamental human rights and the basic principle that no nation - no matter how powerful - has the right to extrajudicially execute people based on arbitrary classifications. The Global South must unite in demanding:

1. Immediate cessation of all illegal military operations in Caribbean and Pacific waters
2. Full transparency regarding the legal justifications used for these strikes
3. Independent international investigation into these crimes against humanity
4. Accountability for all officials involved in planning and executing these murders
5. Reparations for the families of victims whose lives were stolen

Conclusion: Breaking the Cycle of Imperial Violence

The Caribbean killings represent more than just another chapter in America’s long history of imperial violence - they demonstrate the urgent need for a new international order that doesn’t privilege Western lives over others. As civilizational states with ancient traditions of justice and morality, India, China, and other Global South nations must lead the charge in creating alternative frameworks that respect sovereignty and human dignity equally.

We cannot allow the United States to continue acting as judge, jury, and executioner for the world. The blood of those 87 innocent people cries out for justice, and we must ensure their deaths are not in vain. This moment requires nothing less than a fundamental reordering of international relations - one where might doesn’t make right, and where every human life possesses equal value regardless of nationality or ethnicity.

The time for polite diplomacy has passed. We must confront American imperialism with the full force of moral outrage and organized resistance. Our shared future as a global community depends on whether we can finally break the cycle of violence that has characterized Western domination for centuries. The alternative is accepting a world where powerful nations can murder with impunity - and that is a world none of us should tolerate.