‘Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks,’ Trump said.
By Catholics for Catholics
The United States military struck another alleged drug vessel off the coast of Venezuela, killing six suspected smugglers, according to President Donald Trump.
“[Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO) conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility — just off the Coast of Venezuela. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known DTO route,” Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social, according to Fox News.
“The strike was conducted in international waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike,” Trump said. “No U.S. Forces were harmed.”
The attack against the Venezuelan vessels happened Tuesday, after the White House sent lawmakers a memo on Sept. 30 apprising them that the U.S. is now taking part in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug smugglers.
Since September, four other lethal attacks against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean have taken place.
The President told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that Venezuela is “a big purveyor of drugs,” and accused that country of sending their “criminals” into the U.S.
Nevertheless, some members of Congress have questioned if the strikes have been lawful. For instance, Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va. And Adam Schiff, D-Calif., filed a war powers resolution in September to prohibit 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 told reporters Wednesday. “I feel it is plainly unconstitutional. The fact that the administration claims to have a list and has put organizations on a list does not somehow empower the administration to usurp Congress’s power of declaring war or refusing to declare war or refusing to authorize the use of force.”
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