In justifying American military strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs, President Donald Trump has asserted that the longtime U.S. strategy of interdicting such vessels at sea has been a major failure. “We’ve been doing that for 30 years,” he said last month, “and it’s been totally ineffective.” Trump’s comments…

In justifying American military strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs, President Donald Trump has asserted that the longtime U.S. strategy of interdicting such vessels at sea has been a major failure. Trump’s comments came around the same time that the U.S. Coast Guard announced it had set a record for cocaine seizures — a haul of 225 metric tons of the drug over the previous year. Under Trump, the U.S. military has blown up 20 suspected drug boats, resulting in 80 deaths, in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea.

President Donald Trump has justified American military strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs by saying the longtime U.S. strategy of interdicting such vessels has been a major failure.