Why the Seizure of The Skipper Was Perfectly Legal — And a Blow to Maduro, Iran and Hezbollah

The American Left – along with certain Trump Derangement Syndrome-stricken Republicans – greeted the news of the American seizure of a tanker full of Venezuelan and Iranian oil with glee, happily parroting the talking points of Venezuela’s marxist dictator, Nicolas Maduro, in branding it “piracy on the high seas.”

As is usually the case where such matters are concerned, however, once the facts are seriously reviewed, the alleged lawlessness of the Trump Administration turns out to be utterly imaginary.

The basics sound simple enough:

An 1100 foot oil tanker called The Skipper was sitting off the coast of Venezuela, when the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the vessel and took possession of ship, cargo and crew, launching an international chorus of hand-wringing, microphone-grabbing, and camera-mugging.

The understandable first impression is that this sounds like an illegal action. Has Congress declared war against Venezuela? Are these US citizens operating the tanker, to whom the US government can provide traditional Miranda rights? Is our President giving orders unsupported by US law?

Well, as it turns out, this action was totally legal, not even partisan at all, and fascinating in terms of the players involved.