US Military Kills Two in Pacific; Legal Questions

U.S. forces carried out an eighth strike on an alleged drug‑smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing two people, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Pentagon officials said. The administration said the boat was operated by a designated terrorist organization and described the occupants as “narco‑terrorists,” with President Trump and aides invoking war‑on‑terror legal authority to justify the campaign. Hegseth posted an unclassified video showing a small boat laden with brown packages exploding after the strike, but U.S. officials have not publicly produced evidence that the vessels were carrying drugs. Officials have largely sidestepped prosecuting survivors, and critics and legal experts have questioned using lethal military force for counternarcotics rather than Coast Guard law enforcement. The strikes have raised regional tensions with countries including Venezuela and Colombia and coincide with a broader U.S. military buildup in the hemisphere.