❗️US military disguised warplane in deadly Venezuela strike to look like civilian aircraft – The Cradle

 ❗️US military disguised warplane in deadly Venezuela strike to look like civilian aircraft

A new report in The New York Times says the US military painted a warplane to look like a civilian aircraft and hid its weapons inside the fuselage before launching its first strike on a suspected drug-smuggling boat from Venezuela, killing 11 people in September. Officials say the plane lacked normal military markings and flew low enough that those on the boat could see it.

Legal experts cited in the report say disguising a combat aircraft to deceive targets could amount to “perfidy,” a war crime explicitly prohibited by the laws of armed conflict because it blurs the line between civilian objects and legitimate military forces. Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Steven J. Lepper, a former senior military lawyer, noted that if the aircraft’s appearance misled the people on the boat into thinking it was harmless, that misuse of civilian status could violate international norms.

The White House has not directly addressed these perfidy concerns, though the Pentagon defends its operations as lawful and insists its platforms are reviewed for legal compliance. The episode highlights how the Trump administration’s expanded use of military force beyond traditional battlefields, including lethal “double-tap” strikes that killed two survivors clinging to wreckage.

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