A retired US Air Force general has said the Trump administration broke the law during a deadly military strike carried out in international waters.
The claim centers on a US military attack that took place on September 2, 2025, in the Caribbean Sea. According to The New York Times, the strike was carried out using a military aircraft disguised as a civilian plane.
This detail is important. Under both US military law and international law, pretending to be a civilian while carrying out an attack is a crime. The act is known as “perfidy.”
According to the report, the aircraft used in the strike had been painted to look like a civilian plane. Its weapons were also hidden inside the aircraft’s body rather than mounted under the wings, which is common on military planes.
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That strike was not an isolated event.
Since September 2, the US military has carried out at least 35 strikes on boats in international waters across the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean. At least 123 sailors have been killed.
The Trump administration has said the boats were carrying drugs and described those on board as narco-terrorists. However, no evidence has been released to support those claims, and the people killed have not been identified.
While the entire campaign has raised legal concerns, the September 2 strike stands apart. Former officials told the Times that nearly every part of that operation appeared to violate long-standing military rules.
More details later emerged. Questions about why the aircraft was disguised were raised during closed-door briefings on Capitol Hill. Those discussions were not made public because the aircraft involved remains classified.
The same strike also included a second attack that has drawn severe criticism. After the first explosion, two people were seen floating in the water next to the wreckage. About 40 minutes later, a second strike killed them. Under US military rules and international law, killing unarmed shipwrecked sailors is prohibited.
This is where the legal issue becomes clearer. Under the laws of armed conflict, perfidy occurs when military forces hide their identity to gain an advantage before attacking. Several former officials told the Times that this standard appears to have been met.
Major General (Retired) Steven J. Lepper, who previously served as Deputy Judge Advocate General for the US Air Force, said the facts point to a war crime.
“If the aircraft flying above is not identifiable as a combatant aircraft, it should not be engaged in combatant activity,” Lepper said. “Shielding your identity is an element of perfidy.”
Military rules support that view. A US military handbook states that forces at sea must use force “within the bounds of military honor, particularly without resort to perfidy.” It also says commanders have a duty to clearly separate military forces from civilians.
More details from the scene have heightened concern. According to the Times, the targeted boat saw the aircraft overhead and turned back toward Venezuela before the strike happened. That suggests the crew may not have realized they were facing a military aircraft.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
