• I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.worldEnglish
      20·
      3 days ago

      I hate this simplified take, it gives people the wrong idea. They aren’t trying to physically get Venezuela’s oil, just like they weren’t trying to physically get Iraq’s oil. In fact, the US would be pleased as a pig in shit if not a single drop of oil ever left those countries. What they are trying to do is start another war to control the price of oil.

      The US produces plenty of it’s own oil and is a massive net exporter. They do not need any other country’s oil, except for oil with different weights (which no one ever talks about, and the general public is barely aware of the differences). But when other countries start selling oil for cheap, the US doesn’t like that because it weakens their place in the global market. THAT is the reason for these kinds of wars, the US wants to control the price of oil. Not necessarily the oil itself.

      So while saying “it’s a war for oil” is technically true, it lacks a lot of context and makes people who only look at surface level facts think the US is on some “I drink your milkshake” kind of crusade for finding oil, when it’s really just about price control.

    • ultranaut@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      3 days ago

      At least some of them may have drugs. It doesn’t matter though because even with illegal drugs aboard these boats are still not legitimate military targets. These attacks by the US military are inherently criminal.

        • ultranaut@lemmy.worldEnglish
          8·
          3 days ago

          I’m not following. Whether or not drugs are onboard is irrelevant. Even if they can definitively prove drugs are onboard, it is still a crime for the US military to kill these people. This is categorically an illegitimate use of force. The only possible justification for this is if these boats were armed and posed an imminent threat, which obviously is not applicable.

    • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      Look, this is murder, plain and simple, and I don’t trust a fucking thing this administration has to say about it, but the only boat I saw a clear video of was almost certainly running drugs.

      4 monster engines on a small, roofless boat, nothing about it said “pleasure craft” or “fishing vessel”, filled with square packages, running in the open Caribbean. None of that proves anything, of course, but what else could be going on?

      • tornavish@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        3·
        3 days ago

        I understand what you’re saying, but being unable to come up with an idea of what people are doing doesn’t mean they’re doing anything bad. I have strange neighbors, and I have no idea what they are doing in their backyard… But that doesn’t mean they’re doing anything illegal.

        Clearly the United States knew the location of the boats. So, tracking it to its destination would allow people to analyze the contents of the boat, and perhaps even identify the people they were trying to meet within the country. Additionally, they could question the people on the boat. That would be significantly more effective.

        This administration is just blowing up people in the Caribbean without any justification. This kind of action suggests that I should be able to blow up anyone in international waters for whatever reason I want. If I see a cruise ship… Clearly a bunch of motherfuckers. Blow it up.

        • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          3 days ago

          Um, I said it was murder. I said nothing could be proven. But I was replying to the post that said no drugs were there. Pretty fucking likely there was.