Joplin Globe editorial: Trump's attack on the high seas was wrong

In an editorial in today's newspaper, the Joplin Globe came out against President Donald Trump's announcement that the military bombed a civilian ship that he said was carrying illegal drugs.

The editorial began, "Engaging in an attack on a civilian vessel on the high seas is an improper use of America's military."

From the editorial:

Alleged drug traffickers and gang members were killed in the strike — “alleged” because we’ll never know if they were drug traffickers and members of a gang.

They were slaughtered rather than questioned, and any potential evidence was blown up before it could be examined.

The strike involved lethal force against civilians — noncombatants outside of a war zone — who did not pose a direct, imminent threat. Trump didn’t say what drugs were aboard, but this vessel should have been tracked, intercepted and those aboard taken into custody if the intelligence was sound.

And that should have been done by the Coast Guard, not the Navy.

The Globe ended the editorial by saying the military should never be used to "serve personal or political vendettas."

(Note: I would have put a link to the editorial, but I couldn't find it on the Globe's website and it would have been behind a paywall anyway.0