There isn't one. This is a clearly recognized escalation of force doctrine for law enforcement on the high seas and they said "fuck it, let's get to the part where we murder people."

It's like, the whole reason the US Coast Guard (and coast guards, in general) exists.

How do we stop people on the high seas or blow their boats up and take all of their stuff without being pirates with letters of marque or committing an act of war with our navy? This cool new thing we invented called, "water cops."

Usually, it's "Coast Guard Det deploys in boat for apprehension. Ship's company watches from smoke deck"

*parse

You're a better person than I Dread Pirate. I just let my typos hang out there hoping the intended message is noted.

The @tmfloressb.bsky.social approach. Admirable!

Works for me TBH 😂

Best I've got is....

I'm petty but I'm back on the Chief Diplomat of the United States (a Floridian, no less) can't spell Caribbean.

The "legal" basis is someone was bored and wanted to be a bit froggy.

Or the "what does this button do?" excuse

More like, “we love war crimes”

They have no understanding of either of those words separately, let alone combined.

War? Crimes?

Agree. The admin will probably cite EO 14157, which designates cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) as falling under the current AUMF but others have cited numerous cracks in that argument.

Doesn't work, especially as it was effectively a law enforcement action. Even then, in international waters/non US territory it becomes an even harder ask.

And the whole drug cartel as FTO has always been a stretch.

Can’t think of one unless they have intelligence to the contrary but knowing these imbeciles, they got it wrong and it was a party boat.

Never seen an ROE or been part of any training exercise or VBSS that had "and then we yeet the skiff that is just transiting"... Usually, it's "Coast Guard Det deploys in boat for apprehension. Ship's company watches from smoke deck"

Honestly that's how RN plays it, even with USCG aboard.

The RN frigates would try to rope us in as aircrew to do this for them as cover when we were land-deployed in the area and JIATF-S always shot it down, because of some rule/law/regulation that made them get at least a Commissioned Boarding Officer from one of the TACLETs. Maritime Law is weird.

Ive boarded ships.... actually big ships... and small dhows and NOWHERE was there... "and the we blow it up" ... Illegal and against the law of the sea, international law...

This...this right here. Is how you make that stuff 2000% more dangerous for the folks who do that kinda thing.

I guess we know now why they gutted JAG. Not that this is a far stretch from the way we drone strike whole classes of poeple on land.

The level of legal analysis that goes on in those is far, far beyond what was possible here.