Rand Paul blasts his GOP colleagues, saying the US military committed an act that violates ‘all laws of just war’

Senator Rand Paul accused his Republican colleagues of a massive moral failure regarding the deadly boat strikes near Venezuela, as reported by Fox News. He made these strong statements during an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” directly challenging the presumption of innocence and the value of the lives lost in the military operations.

Paul specifically blasted GOP lawmakers who he says “don’t give a s—” about the people who died on the vessels, many of whom the Trump administration claimed were trafficking fentanyl. The Kentucky Republican is clearly frustrated with what he sees as profound hypocrisy among his colleagues who identify as “pro-life.”

“I look at my colleagues who say they’re pro-life, and they value God’s inspiration in life, but they don’t give a s— about these people in the boats,” Paul said. He added that he believes the people on those boats are likely just “poor people in Venezuela and Colombia.”

The most shocking part of Paul’s accusation centers on the alleged actions taken against survivors of the initial strikes

Paul referred to reports that individuals who were clinging to the wreckage after the vessels were hit were subsequently targeted and killed. This, in Paul’s view, is a severe violation of established military law and ethics. He stressed that targeting shipwrecked people goes against the military code of justice and violates the foundational principles of combat. “Against all justice, and against all laws of war, all laws of just war, we have never blown up people who were shipwrecked,” he explained.

The senator finds it unacceptable that his colleagues simply shrug and say, “Oh, well, they’re drug dealers,” excusing what he sees as an act against all laws of just war. The libertarian Republican also totally dismisses the administration’s public narrative about the boats carrying fentanyl and heading toward the United States. He took issue with fellow GOP lawmakers who blindly repeat the claim that the US is “at war with them” because they are supposedly bringing drugs into America.

Paul pointed out the obvious logistical problems with the official story, noting that the small, outboard vessels simply lack the capability to reach the US. “Those little boats can’t get here,” he asserted. Paul detailed the physics of the operation, explaining that the boats have four engines but would likely run out of fuel after about 100 miles. Since the US is 2,000 miles away, they would have to refuel about 20 times to complete the journey, which is impossible for these vessels.

Paul believes the drug claims are simply a “pretense and a false argument” designed to justify a much larger military goal. He accused the administration of conducting the boat strikes to set the stage for an operation to attack Venezuela and arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro. “It’s all been a pretense for arresting Maduro,” he said. “So, we have to set up the predicate. We got to show you we care about drugs.”

For Paul, removing the head of state and bombing a capital city is unequivocally an act of war. Before a recent procedural vote, he told reporters, “I think bombing a capital and removing the head of state is, by all definitions, war.” He worries that President Trump is asserting “carte blanche” power to invade any foreign country and remove people accused of a crime.