In an unparalleled move, President Donald Trump has declared war on drug cartels, issuing a stern warning to narco-terrorists that his administration will "blow you out of existence" in a bid to stem the tide of narcotics entering the U.
S.
As reported by Fox News, the White House dispatched a memo to lawmakers on September 30, stating that the U.S. is now embroiled in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug traffickers. This comes in addition to four lethal strikes executed against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean since September.
The Department of War recently unveiled a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force in the Southern Command area of responsibility, as per Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The task force's mission, according to Hegseth, is to "crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe." He further warned, "The message is clear: if you traffic drugs toward our shores, we will stop you cold."
These developments indicate that Trump's administration is setting its sights on targets within Venezuela, not just those in international waters, as per Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council international affairs think tank. "This is a sign that President Trump is taking the US war on drugs in Latin America to the next level," Ramsey stated. "By involving the military, the president is going after drug cartels in a way that no previous US administration has dared to so far. I think it is likely that we will see the Pentagon evaluate targets inside Venezuela."
Ramsey suggested that future strikes could focus on more drug shipments or drug flights, which often originate from hidden airfields near the Colombian border. However, he also noted that striking within Venezuelas territory would pose significant challenges. Such a move would necessitate the dismantling of Venezuelas air defense system, thereby escalating tensions by openly engaging with Venezuelas military.
This would mark a significant shift from the current U.S. strategy, which has deliberately avoided targeting Venezuelan military assets. "When two Venezuelan F-16s flew over a US destroyer last month, the fact that those planes weren't blown out of the sky suggests that the US is not interested in a shooting war with Venezuela's military," Ramsey observed.
Despite these challenges, Trump has not dismissed the possibility of conducting strikes within Venezuela. He hinted at such actions during a meeting with military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, on September 30, stating that his administration would "look very seriously at cartels coming by land."
To date, the Trump administration has primarily employed maritime forces to counter drug threats, significantly bolstering naval assets in the Caribbean in recent months. For instance, Trump sanctioned the deployment of several U.S. Navy guided missile destroyers to enhance the administrations counter-narcotics efforts in the region starting in August.
Bryan Clark, director of the Hudson Institute think tanks Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, anticipates these deployments will continue for an extended period. "I expect these deployments to continue for months or more than a year, with new ships rotating in to replace those that need to return home for maintenance or crew rest," Clark stated.
However, Nathan Jones, a nonresident scholar in drug policy and Mexico studies at Rice Universitys Baker Institute for Public Policy, expressed skepticism that the strikes would significantly impact the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. This is because fentanyl precursors originate in China and are then produced in labs in Mexico before heading north, bypassing the Caribbean.
Jones did concede that the strikes could potentially unsettle transnational criminal organizations. "This could, though, leave transnational criminal organizations running a little scared in terms of what the administration is going to do," he said. Nevertheless, he predicted that drug flow routes would adapt, with land or aerial drug routes taking precedence over sea routes in the Caribbean.
The strikes have sparked debate among members of Congress regarding their legality. Senators Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., filed a war powers resolution in September that would prevent U.S. forces from engaging in "hostilities" against certain non-state organizations. "There has been no authorization to use force by Congress in this way," Schiff stated. "I feel it is plainly unconstitutional."
Despite these objections, the measure failed in the Senate by a 5148 margin. However, it did garner support from Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who voted alongside their Democratic counterparts for the resolution.
Other Republicans have defended the strikes, with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, asserting that Trumps actions were well within his rights. "When he sees an attack like this coming an attack of drugs or explosives or anything else that's going to kill Americans he not only has the authority to do something about it, he has the duty to do something about it," Risch said.
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