Treat Drug Cartels Like Combatants, Trump Deploys Military Not Police On Land And Sea
JAKARTA - United States (US) President Donald Trump has stated that the US is involved in an open conflict armed with drug cartels.
This was revealed in a secret memo obtained by ABC News on Thursday this week. The memo has been sent to several congressional committees and was first reported by The New York Times.
Trump's statement came after the US military carried out three deadly attacks on ships suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean last month. Two of them are thought to have come from Venezuela.
US independent legal experts have questioned Trump's actions against drug cartels such as the act of a military combatant. Previously, drug cartels were faced by US law enforcers such as criminals, requiring protection in their legal proceedings.
Meanwhile, an official on Capitol Hill who spoke on condition of anonymity said legislators interpreted Trump's efforts "basically launched a secret war against secret enemies, without Congressional approval."
Separately, White House spokesman Anna Kelly said in a statement Trump kept his promise to eradicate drug cartels.
"As we have said many times, the President acted in accordance with the law of armed conflict to protect our country from those who try to bring the deadly poison into our shores, and he keeps his promise to eradicate cartels and eliminate this national security threat from killing more Americans," Kelly said.
In Trump's secret memo sent to the US Congress, hinting the US President had "established" that the cartel involved in drug smuggling was a "non-state armed group", whose actions "are an armed attack on the US."
Three US military attacks on drug smuggling ships in the Caribbean last month led to a number of deaths from the perpetrators. Previously, the US Government relied on US Coast Guard and law enforcement personnel in preventing ships suspected of being linked to criminality.
"Based on the cumulative impact of hostile acts [drug plots] on citizens and the interests of the US as well as friendly foreign countries, the President stipulates that the US is in a non-international armed conflict with terrorist organizations [drug plots] that have been designated," reads the meo.
According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the legal authority used by the US Government to justify attacks on ships in international waters is "interdictive ineffective."
"What will stop them is when you wake them up, when you get rid of them," Marco said last month.
The memo Trump to the US Congress referred to the September 15 incident in which three people died aboard a ship suspected of belonging to Venezuela. The US declared the action in accordance with the law of armed conflict.
"The ship was assessed by the US intelligence community affiliated with designated terrorist organizations and, at the time, was involved in the illegal drug trade, which could eventually be used to kill Americans," the memo said.
The memo further states that despite the limited coverage of the attack, US troops are still preparing to continue carrying out military operations "as necessary" to prevent further deaths or injuries to Americans by eliminating the threat "which this designated terrorist organization poses."