The Hound | Sept. 2

Hi there,

It’s Wednesday. The U.S. military has conducted more than 65 boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific over the past year, killing at least 227 people. A defense official who has tracked the campaign called it plainly: "a year of murders." Of 227 killed, only 26 have been identified by name — a bus driver, a mototaxi driver, fishermen, a futsal player. Just three of 28 survivors are still alive; the rest were left to drown or struck again. The Pentagon claimed zero civilian casualties.

🖊️ Sign the petition to call on the media to cover Operation Southern Spear not as a drug interdiction program, but as what legal experts, members of Congress from both parties, and the administration's own classified documents confirm it to be: a year-long campaign of extrajudicial killings carried out in secret, dressed up as counternarcotics policy.

Hegseth's motto for this campaign: "We do bad things to bad people." A senior Pentagon official admitted some victims may have been human trafficking survivors. The administration has responded by posting heavily edited strike footage to social media as content. The public deserves reporting that names the dead and demands accountability.

In addition, with Trump having no plan for fixing or ending his debacle in Iran — and Democrats need one. And with Everton Blair (D-Ga.) sworn in yesterday, the Republican majority in the House has shrunk to 218-213.

Read about these, and more, with today’s stories:

The U.S. Has Killed 227 Civilians in Boat Strikes During “A Year of Murders” (The Intercept)

Trump Has No Plan for Fixing His Iran Debacle. The Democrats Need One. (The New Republic)

House Republican Majority Turns Razor-Thin as Democrat Is Sworn In (The New Republic)

Organized Money: How Trump Lost Cattle Ranchers (The American Prospect)

Lawmakers ask Army to explain why it told a military unit to stop specializing in drone warfare (AP News)

Teen Treatment Center CEO Accused of Unlawful Sexual Contact With Minor in Police Sting (The Marshall Project)

Until next time,

Harry from The Hound

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