Key members of Congress say they expect a “full accounting” from the Pentagon after reports that military commanders in September ordered a second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean after two individuals survived the initial attack.
A second, or “follow-on,” strike against the alleged drug-carrying vessel would raise significant questions. The initial strike almost surely would have stopped the boat from moving drugs to American shores, which is the publicly stated goal of U.S. military operations in the region.
In at least one other instance, the U.S. picked up two survivors of an American military strike on an alleged drug boat and repatriated them to their home countries. It’s not clear why that wouldn’t have been done during the Sept. 2 strike unless explicit orders were given to kill everyone on the boat.
Lawmakers say they want more information. In a joint statement over the weekend, Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, respectively, said they’re seeking answers from the Defense Department.
“The committee is aware of recent news reports — and the Department of Defense’s initial response — regarding alleged follow-on strikes on suspected narcotics vessels in the [U.S. Southern Command] area of responsibility,” they said. “The committee has directed inquiries to the department, and we will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
Reps. Mike Rogers, Alabama Republican, and Adam Smith, Washington Democrat, echoed those sentiments in their own statement.
“This committee is committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean. We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question,” said Mr. Rogers and Mr. Smith, the GOP chairman and ranking Democrat, respectively, of the House Armed Services Committee.
The Washington Post first reported the September follow-on strike.
In a lengthy statement on Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responded to the reports and said that the U.S. operations are intended to kill the alleged drug traffickers aboard the boats.
“As we’ve said from the beginning, and in every statement, these highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be ’lethal, kinetic strikes.’ The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people. Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a designated terrorist organization,” Mr. Hegseth said. “Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict — and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command.”
The U.S. has conducted nearly two dozen strikes against alleged drug boats in the waters off Central and South America in recent months. More than 70 people have been killed in those operations.
The Trump administration has insisted it has intelligence proving all of those individuals are drug traffickers moving narcotics from countries such as Venezuela to America.
But the administration has provided little public evidence backing up those assertions.
Some legal scholars say the administration has failed to make a clear, compelling legal case about why the military actions are necessary and exactly what national security goals they are meant to achieve. President Trump has designated major drug cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations” and their members as unlawful combatants, which gives the commander in chief a great deal of leeway to order military strikes against them.
The U.S. has significant military resources stationed in the Caribbean to conduct the strikes against alleged drug boats.
There is also a growing expectation in national security circles that Mr. Trump will soon order strikes against Venezuela, which is alleged to be one of the main countries responsible for the flow of drugs into the U.S.
