The US military is killing people on boats in the Caribbean it accuses of drug smuggling, without trials or proof — a likely string of war crimes.

• Under "Operation Southern Spear," US forces have blown up boats they claim were smuggling drugs, killing about 210 people so far.
• The targets are labeled "narcoterrorists," a made-up word meant to make killing them sound legal — but you can't legally execute someone for allegedly carrying drugs.
• In one strike, two men were killed and six survivors were left in the ocean; the Coast Guard later called off the search and found no one.
• The military could arrest these people instead, since it tracks the boats precisely enough to hit them with missiles — but arrests risk exposing that some victims were innocent fishermen.
• Congress is looking at blocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's travel funds, though that misses the bigger issue of the killings themselves.

Outlook: The strikes are continuing with little public attention, and nothing suggests the administration plans to stop.