Washington (AP) – President Donald Trump The drug cartel has declared it to be illegal combatants, and according to a Trump administration memo obtained by the Associated Press on Thursday, the US is currently in “armed conflict.” Boat strike following recent US attacks In the Caribbean.
Notes appear to represent something extraordinary Presidential Warfare claimTrump effectively declares it Drug trafficking The United States is equivalent to an armed conflict that calls for the use of military force, a new theoretical basis for past and future actions.
“The President has determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations,” the memo said. Trump has instructed the Pentagon to “conduct operations against them in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.”
“The United States has now reached an important point where it has to put strength in self-defense and defense of others against ongoing attacks by these designated terrorist groups,” the memo says.
In addition to informing Trump’s stated potential new moments “America First” agenda It supports non-intervention overseas, and the declaration raises harsh questions about the extent to which the White House intends to use the power of war, and whether Congress will exert its power to approve or prohibit such military actions.
“The United States is taking a much more dramatic step. I think it’s a very, very distant international law, and a dangerous law,” said Matthew Waxman, a national security officer for the George W. Bush administration. It “means that the United States can target members of those cartels with deadly forces. That means that the United States can capture them and detain them without trial.”
Declaration follows boat strikes in the Caribbean
Last month, the US military carried out three Fatal strike against a boat In the Caribbean, the government accused them of carrying drugs. At least two of these operations took place on vessels born from Venezuela.
Those strikes followed up Accumulation of our marine forces In the Caribbean it is different from the most recent ones. The naval presence in the area — eight warships with more than 5,000 sailors and Marines — has been pretty stable for several weeks, according to two defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operation.
The memo did not include a time stamp, but references the September 15 US strike “that resulted in the destruction of a vessel, illegal drugs and the deaths of about three illegal combatants.”
“As we have said many times, the President will act in line with the laws of armed conflict to protect our nation from those trying to bring deadly poison to our shores, and he is offering his promise to take on the cartel and eliminate these national security threats from killing more Americans,” the White House said.
Pentagon officials told the senator on Wednesday, according to someone who has the authority to comment publicly and is well versed in the matters he spoke about the terms of anonymity. The Department of Defense introduced the question to the White House.
From the AP Standards and Stylebook Team:
The AP uses anonymous sourcing to provide information about this story. click here To hear Washington Director Anna Johnson explains the AP’s policy regarding the use of anonymous sources.
The Trump administration’s layout in a classified briefing at Capitol said it was perceived by several senators as pursuing a new legal framework that raised questions, particularly regarding Congress’s role in approving such actions.
According to another person who was briefed at the meeting and also spoke on condition of anonymity, Pentagon officials explained the strike to House staff last week.
A memo previously reported by The New York Times laid out the rationale that can be seen as both a regime’s justification for the military strike already taken on boats in the Caribbean.
A White House official who was authorized to comment publicly and spoke to him on condition of anonymity said the memo would be sent to Congress on Sept. 18 and would not convey any new information. Those familiar with Senate briefings said it was sent this week.
No details are listed in the targeted cartel
Trump has designated several Latin American drug cartels as Foreign terrorist organizationsand the administration previously justified military action as an escalation necessary to halt the flow of drugs to the United States.
Pentagon officials were unable to provide a list of designated terrorist organizations at the heart of the conflict. This was an issue that was a major source of frustration for some lawmakers briefed this week, according to one of those familiar with briefings.
“Friendly foreign countries are making great efforts to combat these organizations,” the memo said, noting that the group is currently carrying out an ongoing attack as an organized cartel throughout the Western Hemisphere. The memo calls cartel members “illegal combatants.”
The Trump administration is trying to justify the use of military force against drug cartels just as the Bush administration justified the war with al-Qaeda after the September 11 attack, said Waxman, who served on the state and defense sector and the national security board under Bush.
But unlike Trump, Bush had permission from Congress. The Trump administration argues that it no longer needs to consider the individual circumstances of using force, Waxman, who chairs the Columbia Law School’s National Security Law program.
“Essentially, we say, ‘We don’t have to engage in such case-by-case decisions,'” Waxman said. “All these vessels carrying enemy personnel can be targeted, whether they are heading towards the US or not.”
Waxman is hoping for more strikes, saying, “We will see if the United States will take the next big step and engage in deadly or armed forces in the territory of another state.”
Lawmakers from both major political parties are pushing Trump to ask Power authority From Congress for suspected drug trafficker operations. Several senators and human rights groups have questioned the legality of strikes, some calling it a potential overdue for the military, as it was being used for law enforcement purposes.
Sen. Jack Reid of Rhode Island, a top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the drug cartels are “demeaning,” but the Trump administration “provides no reliable legal justification, evidence or intelligence for these strikes.”
“We should be wary of all Americans that the president has determined that he can engage in a secret war against anyone calling his enemy,” said Reid, a former army officer.
___
Associated Press authors Konstantin Toropin, Ben Finley and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
