gooseus
3 months ago
By Portuguese authorities, not US.
Which is why the title says "seized", and not "torpedoed".
kamikazeturtles
3 months ago
> Having seized the vessel, the navy said it could not be towed back to shore due to poor weather and its fragile construction, and it later sank in the open sea.
Well, they did sink the submarine
samcheng
3 months ago
They didn’t kill the smugglers extrajudicially, though, which is a big difference.
hulitu
3 months ago
That's how you differentiate old empires from the curent ones: they are tired of all this killing.
user
3 months ago
complianceowl
3 months ago
What do you think about Obama killing an American citizen via drone extrajudicially?
OKRainbowKid
3 months ago
Why does that matter? Does that excuse or justify these extrajudicial killings (murders?) in any way?
tehwebguy
3 months ago
It was an unforgivable crime, obviously. Much like these war crimes.
nickthegreek
3 months ago
We don't know if the Trump admin is killing American citizens in these. They don't know who they are killing either. Maybe the first step to pointing a weapon is knowing who you are pointing it at.
water-data-dude
3 months ago
Whataboutism isn't a good argument.
Razele
3 months ago
war is extrajudicial
harimau777
3 months ago
America isn't at war.
gruez
3 months ago
Not even the "war" on drugs or "war" on terror? Semantic games aside, the precedent for the president engaging in military action without congress declaring war was broken decades before Trump.
wormius
3 months ago
I love me a good Tu Quoque defense. Keep em coming! I can't remember if we supported him cuz he wasn't the war candidate or we supported him cuz he was or if it even matters and we just make up bullshit excuses for what suits us at the time with whatever is convenient for the given argument...
ziml77
3 months ago
So? We hated it then and we hate it now.
hulitu
3 months ago
They surely need circus for the plebeians. /s
ta9000
3 months ago
Tell that to the thousands of parents that lose a kid each year. This trash has to stop making it into the US.
henry2023
3 months ago
Everyone talks about stopping drugs entering the border but no one talks about dismantling the extremely efficient logistic network that makes those drugs available in every corner of each major city.
I guess it’s easier to blow up random boats in the pacific than prosecuting corrupt officials but is it effective?
ta9000
3 months ago
Why not do both?
wilg
3 months ago
Because it's un-American and murder to kill criminal suspects instead of trying them in a court of law.
simianparrot
3 months ago
I would say it's as American as it gets, and in this case justified as well. Do you not know America's history..? Even recent one? Obama ordered drone strikes in foreign countries as well.
wilg
3 months ago
We know it’s not justified because they aren’t enemy combatants.
Saline9515
3 months ago
What is the difference between this and sending hellfire missiles on Afghanis based on cell phone data, during the Obama administration?
wilg
3 months ago
One is illegal.
wilg
3 months ago
Losing a kid doesn't mean America is at war?
n8henrie
3 months ago
To cocaine? By "lose a kid" I assume you mean death and not some euphemism for addiction.
tommica
3 months ago
As fucked up as the situation is, they were warned that they would be blown up if they tried it.
Stevvo
3 months ago
Giving warning you are going to violate international law doesn't make it any less illegal or immoral.
complianceowl
3 months ago
What do you think about Obama killing an *American citizen* via drone extrajudicially?
user
3 months ago
_--__--__
3 months ago
"In addition to the participation of the Portuguese Navy and Judicial Police, the operation was supported by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force – South (JIATF-S), and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA), working together within the scope of MAOC-N."
from the linked press release, I'm assuming DEA tipped off the Euro agencies that the sub was headed their way
defrost
3 months ago
It's equally, if not more, probable that the intelligence about shipment departures came from non-US MAOC-N members and the "the operation" of tracking the craft was where the US liasons provided assistance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_Analysis_and_Operatio...
The US isn't the only country with agents blending in on the supply side keeping eyes and ears on activity.
The EU end has had repeated success infiltrating and cracking 'encrypted' criminal networks on the demand side of such markets.