The largely supine Republicans in Congress had no apparent trouble as Donald Trump and defense secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the killing of suspected drug runners off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. But suddenly they are up in arms because the Washington Post reported on 28 November about one incident, a double-tap strike, in which the US military finished off two survivors of an attack.

Tempted as I am to accept whatever it takes to spark some minimal scrutiny of these summary executions, I hope this unexpected opening prompts broader investigation of this entire series of murders, which have now claimed 87 victims in 22 attacks. As Democrats join in, there are some indications that this expanded scrutiny may be finally beginning.

The reason for the congressional awakening is the revelation that during the first strike on 2 September, the US military initially killed nine occupants of a boat but then returned to kill two men clinging to the remains of the destroyed boat. These two clearly posed no threat to anyone. The Pentagon has advanced no evidence to support its claim that they might have been trying to radio their compatriots. Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, who was overseeing the operation, acknowledged that the two men were in no position to make a distress call.

Representative Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House armed services committee, who has seen the........

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