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Notes -
This is the evidence by which we, as individuals without any privileged information, must judge the situation. It's not (I very much hope) the sum-total of the evidence by which the administration is making these determinations. They haven't presented that evidence to the public... but they obviously wouldn't if its means of acquisition was at all circumspect. This administration has proven... erratic on certain matters, but they presumably would at least consult military intelligence regarding their targets, and I have pretty high hopes the NSA is capable of identifying genuine cartel vessels; is their security better than Iran's nuclear program?
None of which is to say we should just trust the process -- they've certainly made mistakes before -- and that's not to say the strikes are justified conditional on the targets being as described. Just that, pending evidence to the contrary, I think these likely are cartel vessels.
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