U.S. in 'armed conflict' with drug cartels, Trump tells Congress

"President Donald Trump has determined the United States is in "armed conflict" with drug cartels who are distributing narcotics, according to a notification to Capitol Hill that seeks to give legal cover for taking lethal action against traffickers, following multiple strikes against what the administration has claimed are Venezuelan boats in international waters. Some lawmakers and experts have said the notificationis a dubious legal justification for what have been unlawful military strikes on alleged civilian criminals in the Western Hemisphere, a far cry from combatants engaged in direct battle with American forces."

"Trump directed the Pentagon to conduct operations pursuant to the law of armed conflict after he "determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations" that have helped kill U.S. citizens through drug trafficking, according to a sensitive notice transmitted to Senate leadership and Congressional committees this week and reviewed by The Washington Post. "The United States has now reached a critical point where we must use force in self-defense and defense of others against the ongoing attacks by these designated terrorist organizations," the notice reads."

"Jack Reed (Rhode Island), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that the Trump administration had left Congress in the dark on the strikes and had "offered no credible legal justification, evidence or intelligence" to support the action. "Every American should be alarmed that their President has decided he can wage secret wars against anyone he calls an enemy," Reed said in a statement."

President Trump determined the United States is in armed conflict with drug cartels distributing narcotics and directed the Pentagon to operate under the law of armed conflict. A sensitive notification to Senate leadership frames lethal action against traffickers as self-defense and defense of others, citing groups that have helped kill U.S. citizens through drug trafficking. The administration described recent strikes as targeting Venezuelan boats in international waters, while the notice did not name specific organizations. Some lawmakers and experts called the notification a dubious legal basis for strikes and criticized the lack of congressional briefings and presented evidence.

Read at The Washington Post