Venezuelan Boat Strike
Rand Paul Reveals Venezuela Boat Attack Was a Drone Strike
The senator told The Intercept the attack defied rules of engagement and came from a drone. A legal expert calls it murder.
Nick Turse
September 10 2025, 12:32 p.m.
Alleged drug-smuggling boat from Venezuela was turning back when hit, sources saySen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., took aim at the Trump administration for glorifying the killing of people without trial, saying that the “lethal strike” was a breach of long-accepted rules of engagement. He also disclosed that it was a drone strike, a fact that the Pentagon and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have refused to reveal.
Paul first criticized the attack in a back-and-forth with Vice President JD Vance on social media. Vance responded to the suggestion that the strike was a war crime by writing on X, “I don’t give a shit what you call it.” Paul responded on Saturday calling Vance’s comments about killing people without a trial “despicable and thoughtless.”
Paul told The Intercept he didn’t oppose the use of drones in war but objected to summarily killing people without due process.
By Eleanor Watson, Caitlin Yilek
September 11, 2025 / 6:57 PM EDT / CBS News
Washington — An alleged drug-trafficking boat that was destroyed last week by the U.S. military appeared to be turning around when it was hit, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The individuals onboard saw the military aircraft overhead and then attempted to turn back before the U.S. repeatedly hit the boat, one of the sources told CBS News.
The New York Times first reported the development.
President Trump said last week that the strike killed 11 people. The administration has claimed that the vessel coming from Venezuela was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, which has been designated by the White House as a foreign terrorist organization.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement to CBS News on Thursday, "The President acted in line with the laws of armed conflict to protect our country from those trying to bring poison to our shores."
On Thursday, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said none of those killed were members of the gang.
"They openly confessed to killing 11 people," he said on state television, according to a translation from Reuters. "We have done our investigations here in our country and there are the families of the disappeared people who want their relatives, and when we asked in the towns, none were from Tren de Aragua, none were drug traffickers."
Philippines President Duterte’s Drug War One Year on: At Least 7,000 Are Dead, But It’s Been ‘Successful’
Published Jun 30, 2017 at 01:53 PM EDT
According to Human Rights Watch, security forces and "unidentified gunmen" have killed at least 7,000 suspected drug users and dealers since July 1, 2016. Of those killings, 3,116 have been carried out by police. The death toll in one year under Duterte's leadership is higher than all of those killed while dictator Ferdinand Marcos was in power between 1972 and 1981.Extra judicial killings over drugs? I'm sorry but this is psychotic behavior.While Duterte has dismissed his critics in the international community as "crazies," he claims to have received praise from U.S. President Donald Trump. After the Philippine president called the latter to wish him luck after his inauguration, Duterte said in a statement: "He [Trump] was quite sensitive also to our worry about drugs. And he wishes me well ... in my campaign and he said that ... we are doing it as a sovereign nation, the right way."
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