President Donald Trump’s administration is facing renewed scrutiny after fresh reporting raised legal questions about a Pentagon operation in the Caribbean Sea.
The New York Times reported Monday that the Department of Defense is being accused of using a military aircraft that appeared to be a civilian plane during an attack on suspected drug-trafficking boats. The strike, carried out last September, killed 11 people. According to the report, the aircraft had no obvious military markings and allegedly carried munitions inside the fuselage rather than mounted visibly under its wings.
The operation also reportedly involved a second strike. The report says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized a follow-up attack after two survivors were seen clinging to wreckage in the water.
Legal experts told the newspaper that disguising a military aircraft to resemble a civilian one can fall under “perfidy,” a prohibited act under the law of armed conflict. Maj. Gen. Steven J. Lepper (Ret.), who served in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) corps, said that if an aircraft was deliberately made to look civilian while conducting a strike, it could meet the definition of a war crime under current standards.
“Shielding your identity is an element of perfidy,” Lepper said. “If the aircraft flying above is not identifiable as a combatant aircraft, it should not be engaged in combatant activity.”
The report adds that the targeted boat appeared to notice the aircraft and turned back toward Venezuela before the first strike. After the initial attack, two people were seen in the water beside the debris for roughly 40 minutes, the report says, before a second strike hit the area.
Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told The New York Times the operation complied with domestic and international law, though the response did not directly address the specific allegation of perfidy.
“The U.S. military utilizes a wide array of standard and nonstandard aircraft depending on mission requirements,” Wilson said. “Prior to the fielding and employment of each aircraft, they go through a rigorous procurement process to ensure compliance with domestic law, department policies and regulations, and applicable international standards, including the law of armed conflict.”
