While this article specifically discusses China's use of non-military designated vessels, I can see how Russia is using their 'shadow fleet' in similar ways now.
https://www.usmcu.edu/Outreach/Marine-Corps-University-Press/MCU-Journal/JAMS-vol-15-no-2/Maritime-Militias/ "They could even employ maritime drones launched from trawlers, similar to how Ukraine uses such drones to attack the Russian fleet."
Privateers & Pirates:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privateer"A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or delegated authority issued commissions, also referred to as letters of marque, during wartime. The commission empowered the holder to carry on all forms of hostility permissible at sea by the usages of
#war."
"CIA & the US military were only allowed to use drone strikes against known terrorist leaders whose location could be confirmed & who appeared on secret CIA & JSOC target lists"…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targeted_killingObama authorized the
#CIA &
#JSOC "to fire on targets based solely on their intelligence
#signatures —patterns of behavior that are detected through signals intercepts, human sources & aerial surveillance, and that indicate the presence of an important operative or a plot against U.S. interests."
Targeted killing - Wikipedia
"In June 2012, 26 lawmakers, all but two of them Democrats, signed a letter to Obama questioning so-called signature strikes, in which the U.S. attacks armed men who fit a pattern of behavior that suggests they are involved in terrorist activities. Signature strikes…[were] curbed in Pakistan, where they once were common…Lawmakers expressed concern that signature strikes could kill civilians. They added: 'Our drone campaigns already have virtually no transparency, accountability or oversight'."
"Colombia's President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday said the latest vessel in the Caribbean bombed by the United States may have been Colombian with Colombian citizens aboard, which the White House called a 'baseless' statement."
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombias-petro-says-last-vessel-bombed-by-us-was-colombian-2025-10-08/"U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced the latest in a series of military strikes targeting drug trafficking vessels off the coast of Venezuela, although the Pentagon has yet to confirm any such strike occurred on Saturday."
"The United States killed six men aboard a boat in international waters 'just off the Coast of Venezuela,' President Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday, asserting without evidence that they had been transporting drugs"…
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/us/politics/trump-drugs-boat-attack.html"The strike was the fifth known attack by the U.S. military on such boats since Sept. 2. The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects."
#blockade #venezuela
U.S. Military Kills 6 People in Boat Attack Near Venezuela, Trump Says
In a social media post, the president said the people aboard a boat were suspected of smuggling drugs for an unspecified group his team had labeled terrorists.
"New authorities, known in intelligence jargon as a presidential finding, were described by multiple U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the highly classified document"
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/politics/trump-covert-cia-action-venezuela.html"Military buildup in the region is substantial: There are currently 10,000 U.S. troops there, most of them at bases in Puerto Rico, but also…Marines on amphibious assault ships. In all, the Navy has eight surface warships and a submarine in the Caribbean."
#cia #venezuela
Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela
The development comes as the U.S. military is drawing up options for President Trump to consider, including possible strikes inside the country.
janggolan
