President Donald Trump has elevated the war on drugs to include military strikes, and he has even discussed the possibility of initiating land operations.
He is doing this while there is a growing movement in Congress calling these operations acts of murder, and at least one Republican is pushing back, and there have also been rumors that a handful of other lawmakers also do not approve but are keeping quiet, at least for now.
Trump, however, is not backing down, having just ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford to the Caribbean, with just under 15% of the entire naval fleet now positioned in this area.
The question of the legality of these strikes comes down to an interpretation of the War Powers Act and whether Trump is overstepping his bounds by approving these missions without the approval of Congress.
Trump has worded his responses very carefully to include language that would technically give him the authority to conduct such strikes, but his statement alone does not necessarily change the rules of this game.
Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) are leading the charge in the Senate against Trump's decisions, trying to force a vote for a war powers resolution to dial back his powers.
On the GOP side, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has been working social media and the mainstream media, contending that these strikes are illegal and equivalent to summary executions without due process. It is quickly becoming a real problem for Trump.
I am on the record supporting this push by Trump, but I just want to make sure he does not wind up in jail for his actions. That is especially true because of how impactful the operations have been so far.
There have been close to a dozen strikes at this point that we know about, and they are starting to change the way these cartels are doing their business.
Brent Sadler, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former Navy officer, explained, "They’re going to try and stay alive by moving cargo on aircraft. But it’s more expensive, and you can’t move as much by volume, so it’s going to hurt their business model."
Trump has mentioned possibly conducting land operations, but that opens up a new can of worms, one that I don’t think he should be willing to broach at this point. Sadler agreed, stating, "Once you go on land, now you’ve got sovereignty issues, collateral damage, all kinds of complications. The cartels will collapse under their own weight if their money supply is cut off.”
We already have a significant presence in the Caribbean as a result of these operations, but now the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s most elite carrier, has been ordered into the theater.
Bryan Clark, director of the Hudson Institute think tank’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, commented on the deployment, stating, "I estimate the FORD will be doing strike operations against narcotics trafficking and manufacturing sites ashore as well as providing close air support to special operations troops.”
This has also brought about speculation that Trump has much bigger things in mind, possibly making a move on the Maduro regime (the United States has offered a $50 million bounty for the president's arrest).
This is a real powder keg right now, but as I stated above, I just hope that whoever is advising Trump on this is doing so properly and ensuring that the president does not overstep his bounds. I love the idea of hitting cartels like this, but not at the expense of our president being brought up on murder charges.
