Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
A Republican senator has increased his opposition to the Trump administration War on alleged drug traffickers In the Caribbean Sea, which he is pursuing without congressional authorization.
Senator Rand Paul was on Fox News Sunday, where he described military operations as “extrajudicial killings” against ships in the area, a term meaning he believes the entire effort is illegal in the absence of a congressional mandate. He also called them “wrong”.
“I would call these extrajudicial killings. It’s like what China does, what Iran does to drug dealers,” the senator claimed. “They summarily hang people without presenting any evidence to the public. So this is wrong.”
Paul reported that the Trump administration was changing the terms of engagement for narco-traffickers, without constitutionally required approval from the legislative branch. What had previously been a law enforcement matter – where lethal attacks on ships without warning would be completely prohibited – the White House was now treating the situation as a military matter, where the senator said people are often killed without due process of trial and punishment.
“The drug war, or the crime war, is generally something we do through law enforcement. And so far they have alleged that these people are drug dealers, [but] Nobody told their name, nobody told what the proof is [they have]No one said whether they were armed or not,” Paul said.
The US military announced its latest public strike in the ongoing operation early Friday, bringing the total death toll to 43. The two survivors were deported back to their respective home countries instead of being brought to the US for trial after being captured by military forces. In his interview, the senator said that the Trump administration’s strategy “made no sense”.
Apart from Paul, only one other Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, has come out against the strikes being carried out without congressional approval. The president told reporters at a meeting of his advisers on Thursday: “I don’t think we’re necessarily going to ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just going to kill people who are bringing drugs into our country. We’re going to kill them. They might as well be dead.”
Murkowski said last week, “While I applaud the Administration’s concerted efforts to address the ravages of drug trafficking on communities across the country, I do not believe the information I have received justifies this interpretation of the President’s Article II powers.”
The senator continued, “I take my Article I responsibility very seriously when it comes to Congress’s power to declare war. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for full information on the legal and factual justification for armed attacks on suspected drug traffickers.”
Democrats are increasingly vocal in their resistance, though they do not have the numbers to use legislative tools to stop the White House. The party also remains in a standoff with the administration and their Republican counterparts over the government shutdown, which is now in its 25th day.
“It’s that simple,” Senator Ruben Gallego said Sunday. meet the Press On NBC. “If this president thinks they’re doing something illegally, he should use the Coast Guard. If there’s an act of war, you use our military, and then you come and talk to us first. But that’s murder.”
Paul is the Senate’s strongest libertarian voice and was a top opponent of former President Barack Obama’s drone campaign. He led a Senate filibuster against an Obama nominee in 2013, demanding a promise from the administration that it would not authorize lethal force against an American on US soil without due process. During the Obama administration, four US citizens were killed in targeted drone strikes overseas during the War on Terror, only one of whom was the intended target of the attack.
At the time, Paul had several perceived allies in the Senate GOP caucus, such as Ted Cruz, who did not approve of a pledge from Attorney General Eric Holder to use law enforcement means rather than military strikes when the former was considered capable of dealing with the terrorist threat.
Now, the same justification is being used by the Trump administration to expand military operations in the US, as it has reclassified drug cartels as terrorist groups and tried to instigate regime change in Venezuela, which it alleges is controlled by a cartel. And as Paul pointed out, the identities of the 43 people killed in US strikes over the past several weeks have not been released to Congress or the public, making it unclear whether any Americans were targeted.
Republicans in the House and Senate, with a few exceptions, side with the president.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in September, “You’re continuing to send substances here that are killing Americans, we’re going to deal with this as a national security threat.”