Senate GOP Blocks Bid to Rein In Trump's Caribbean Military Strikes, Singapore Hangs Another Drug Offender, More... (10/13/25)

Secretary of Defense Hegseth announces a new counter-narcotics task force in the Caribbean, Singapore again resorts to the death penalty for a drug offender, and more.

Pannir Pranthaman. Executed last week in Singapore for less than two ounces of heroin. (Amnesty International)

Foreign Policy

Senate Republicans Block Effort to Check Administration Use of Deadly Force in Caribbean "Drug Boat" Attacks. In a near party-line vote, the Senate Wednesday voted down an effort to challenge the Trump administration's use of deadly military force against alleged Venezuelan "drug boats." The move would have invoked the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which asserts that only Congress has the power to declare war.

The move failed on a vote of 48-51, with only two Republicans, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska breaking ranks to vote for the resolution. One Democrat, Jon Fetterman of Pennsylvania, voted with the Republican majority.

The administration has taken credit for shooting four "drug boats" out of the water since September, leaving a claimed toll of 21 dead. The resolution would have required the administration to get formal approval from Congress before undertaking any further military strikes.

Even though the resolution narrowly failed, it gave lawmakers the opportunity to voice their concerns about the administration's claim that the country is in "armed conflict" with drug trafficking organizations, that members of such groups are "narco-terrorists," and that they are thus "unlawful enemy combatants" subject to summary execution by the US military.

"It sends a message when a significant number of legislators say: 'Hey, this is a bad idea,'" said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who cosponsored the resolution along with Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA).

"Congress must not allow the executive branch to become judge, jury and executioner," said Sen. Paul during a floor speech.

A number of other Republican senators, while voting against the resolution, expressed concerns about the strikes. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) admitted "there may be some concern" in Republican circles. But the GOP Senate leadership argued hard against the resolution, calling it a political ploy by Democrats.

"People were attacking our country by bringing in poisonous substances to deposit into our country that would have killed Americans," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID). "Fortunately most of those drugs are now at the bottom of the ocean."

Risch then thanked Trump for ordering the strikes and said he hoped they would continue.

But Democrats warned that continuing the attacks could sleepwalk the country into a war with Venezuela. "This is the kind of thing that leads a country, unexpectedly and unintentionally, into war," warned Schiff.

Hegseth Announces Task Force to "Crush" Drug Cartels in Caribbean. Just two days after the Senate rejected a bid to check the Trump administration's military adventurism in attacking civilian vessels off the coast of Venezuela, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday that the Defense Department is creating a new counter-narcotics task force to "crush" drug cartels in the Caribbean.

"At the President’s direction, the Department of War is establishing a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force in the @SOUTHCOM area of responsibility to crush the cartels, stop the poison and keep America safe," Hegseth said in a post on X. "The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold," he added.

The vast majority of illicit drugs imported into the US come overland across the Mexican border. And when it comes to maritime drug smuggling routes to the US, the eastern Pacific is far more popular than the Caribbean.

The announcement comes as the US has already ramped up aggressive military activity in the Caribbean, attacking and destroying four alleged Venezuelan "drug boats" and leaving 21 people dead. In an attempt to provide a legal justification for the attacks, the administration has also now notified Congress that the US is at war with drug trafficking groups the US has designated as terrorist organizations.

International

Singapore Executes Man for Less Than Two Ounces of Heroin. Authorities in Singapore executed Malaysian citizen Pannir Pranthaman, 38, last Wednesday. He had been convicted in 2014 of possessing 52 grams of heroin and was sentenced to death.

Pranthaman's execution came despite protests from human rights groups and was the 12th this year in Singapore, with 1o of those killed having been convicted of drug crimes.

Pranthaman's case "has been marred by multiple layers of unfairness, including violations of international human rights law and standards," said Amnesty International in a statement before his execution. "It is indefensible that Singapore continues to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control. So far in 2025, Singapore has executed 11 people, including nine convicted of drug-related offences. Yet there is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

"Pannir's case is emblematic of the many flaws in the use of the death penalty in Singapore. Under international law and standards, the imposition of the death penalty for drug-related offences as a mandatory punishment is unlawful."

"Singapore must end its use of the death penalty and instead offer effective protection from drug-related harm, such as by expanding access to health and social services for people who use drugs and addressing the underlying socio-economic causes that lead people to engage in the drug trade," the human rights group concluded.