A prominent political analyst revealed the "unprecedented features" of President Donald Trump's strikes on alleged drug boats in international waters in a new essay published on Sunday.
Richard Galant, executive producer of Now It's History on Substack and a Senior Fellow at New America, argued in a new essay that Trump seems to be drawing from the authority other presidents have used during America's War on Drugs. He compared the strikes to operations conducted under the Hoover and Nixon administrations.
However, Galant noted in the essay that there are two "unprecedented features" of Trump's strikes.
"For one thing, the people on the boats being blasted out of the water by U.S. drones are being denied even a pretense of the due process U.S. law gives to suspected criminals," Galant wrote. "'Judge, jury and executioner,' would be an apt way of characterizing those in the military who have to pull the trigger."
"For another, there is no explanation of how the boats and those aboard are being chosen as targets," he continued.
He also noted that Trump appears to be fighting a war, even though he has not formally declared one.
"Declaring a war that is not really a war is irresistible for some presidents," Galant wrote. "It sounds dramatic, forceful and all-consuming even though in reality it isn’t anything like a real war. After all, a real war requires making unpopular decisions like mobilizing much of the economy and potentially drafting citizens into the military."