# Mass murder on the high seas (Venezuelan "drug boat") **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 10, 2025, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-murder-on-the-high-seas-venezuelan-drug-boat/1022910 "2025-09-10T13:44:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-murder-on-the-high-seas-venezuelan-drug-boat/1022910/321 "2026-09-20T20:18:02Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > They can just track them from space, and if they approach U.S. waters they can be intercepted. Doesn’t make for dramatic-enough video. How is the US military going to recruit today’s youth unless there are lots of big explosions with which to entice them? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-murder-on-the-high-seas-venezuelan-drug-boat/1022910/322 "2026-09-20T21:09:12Z")
It would be odd if none of the great legal minds around trump clued him in to the fact that these strikes are just plain old murder. Even if the boats were full of drugs up to the railings, the people on board can’t just be summarily executed. I don’t like how the zone can be so flooded that first degree murders with video evidence are pretty much ignored. Is 1st degree murder a pardonable offense? ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2026, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-murder-on-the-high-seas-venezuelan-drug-boat/1022910/323 "2026-09-20T23:49:45Z")
“The SCOTUS said I can do ANYTHING I WANT. Thank you for your attention…” ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-murder-on-the-high-seas-venezuelan-drug-boat/1022910/324 "2026-09-21T06:33:45Z")
Actually I was thinking the US Navy could disable a suspected craft’s steering and fuel systems with a high intensity microwave. They then could let a Coast Guard detachment board the boat. I know it’s only possible to do that in very close range. Clearly I’m a novice and a civilian so don’t see the complexity. But it seems all right to bring it up as an option. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-murder-on-the-high-seas-venezuelan-drug-boat/1022910/325 "2026-09-21T10:50:51Z")
It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if trump and Kegbreth were both snuff film enthusiasts, in which case non-lethal alternatives are the last thing they want. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-murder-on-the-high-seas-venezuelan-drug-boat/1022910/326 "2026-09-21T20:45:55Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I don’t like how the zone can be so flooded that first degree murders with video evidence are pretty much ignored. You’re not the only one. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this is one of the reasons behind some anti-Republican votes in November. But many people likely are able to rationalize it away: ‘he’s protecting us from bad guys.’ A lot of people neither understand how due process works, nor how its absence could affect them personally, if the circumstances were right. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2026, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-murder-on-the-high-seas-venezuelan-drug-boat/1022910/327 "2026-09-21T21:56:17Z")
Prior to this administration, the Coast Guard was doing research on how to precisely target boat motors to disable the craft without harming any people on board. Mostly it wasn’t anything fancy like microwave weapons, just good targeting with conventional firearms. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2026, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-murder-on-the-high-seas-venezuelan-drug-boat/1022910/328 "2026-09-22T21:18:32Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > the Coast Guard was doing research on how to precisely target boat motors to disable the craft without harming any people on board. I have to wonder if the Coast Guard personnel involved in that project have been fired. (“We don’t need no stinkin’ advocates for rule of law”…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mass-murder-on-the-high-seas-venezuelan-drug-boat/1022910.md?page=16)