Trump's targeting of Venezuelan boats not likely to save any Americans from anything

America's crusade against drug-trafficking Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean is completely off-target.

US claims, that the Venezuelan boats targeted by the USA were involved in transporting fentanyl from South America to the US, flies in the face of all available evidence, which shows that the drug trade through the Caribbean is almost all in cocaine, not fentanyl, and that the cocaine is destined for Europe, not America. US-bound fentanyl almost all comes in from Mexico, not Canada, as Trump also claims, and certainly not through the Caribbean, and most of America's cocaine comes in through the Pacific.

President Trump and various members of his administration, as well as key spokespeople from the Pentagon (which is now largely staffed by loyal Trump supporters, and not necessarily experts in their field), have been loud in their claims that US strikes on Venezuelan boats in the Caribbean, of which there have been at least 20 in the last few months, are essential to break up drug flows into the US and to protect the drug-addled American population. Trump has claimed (without evidence, as per usual) that each boat bombed saves 25,000 American lives, which is just ludicrous.

It is more and more apparent that this is just a pretext for Trump's regime-change aspirations, and his desperate need to be seen to be doing something - anything - about America's drug problem.

The Trump regime has come under more and more criticism by allies for its activities int he Caribbean, which increasingly look to be against both US and international law. Some allies are even witholding intelligence on Latin American drug smuggling operational from the USA, as they are worried about the illegality of America's policy.