URGENT UPDATE: A newly uncovered Justice Department memo reveals a stark divergence between the Trump administration’s internal legal justifications for missile strikes against drug cartels and President Donald Trump‘s public explanations. This critical report highlights the administration’s rationale for 21 strikes in the Caribbean, which have resulted in over 80 deaths, as acts of collective self-defense for U.S. allies like Mexico and Colombia.
Sources familiar with a classified opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel indicate that the Trump administration has framed these military actions as necessary to combat drug cartels that allegedly use proceeds from cocaine shipments to wage violence against these governments. The memo claims the strikes are targeting cocaine, categorizing any resulting casualties as enemy losses or collateral damage, rather than outright murder.
However, Trump’s public narrative has focused on curbing U.S. overdose deaths, a significant departure from the legal rationale outlined in the memo. Critics are raising alarms about the validity of this legal theory. Law professor Martin Lederman, a former deputy assistant attorney general, stated, “A significant problem with this theory is that they still have not identified any state that’s engaged in an armed conflict with a particular cartel.” He emphasized that there is no evidence that any state has formally requested U.S. intervention to destroy cocaine shipments linked to armed violence.
As this groundbreaking report circulates, the Pentagon has yet to comment on the legal implications of the strikes. This revelation comes amid heightened military presence in the Caribbean, including the arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s most advanced aircraft carrier.
This developing situation raises urgent questions about the legality of U.S. military actions abroad and the potential human cost of these operations. As public scrutiny intensifies, the administration’s justifications will be under the microscope, challenging the narrative surrounding these controversial strikes.
Stay tuned for more updates as this story unfolds.