Trump declares drug cartels operating in Caribbean unlawful combatants

President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a “non-international armed conflict,” according to a Trump administration memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, after recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean.

A person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly said the Congress was notified about the designation by Pentagon officials on Wednesday.

The move comes after the U.S. military last month carried out three deadly strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean. At least two of those operations were carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela.

Pentagon officials could not provide a list of the designated terrorist organizations at the center of the conflict, a matter that was a major source of frustration for some of the lawmakers who were briefed, according to the person.

Democrats have been pressing Trump to go to Congress and seek war powers authority for such operations.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

What the administration laid out at the closed-door classified briefing was perceived by several senators as pursuing a new legal framework that raised questions particularly regarding the role of Congress in authorizing any such action, the person familiar with the matter said.

As the administration takes aim at vessels in the Caribbean, senators and lawmakers of both major political parties have raised stark objections. Some had previously called on Congress to exert its authority under the war powers act that would prohibit the administration’s strikes unless they were authorized by Congress.

The first military strike, carried out on Sept. 2, on what the Trump administration said was a drug-carrying speedboat, killed 11 people. Trump claimed the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, which was listed by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year.

The Trump administration has justified the military action as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States.

But several senators, Democrats and some Republicans, as well as human rights groups questioned the legality of Trump’s action. They called it potential overreach of executive authority in part because the military was used for law enforcement purposes.

By claiming his campaign against drug cartels is an active armed conflict, Trump appears to be claiming extraordinary wartime powers to justify his action

据美联社周四获得的一份特朗普政府备忘录显示，在美军最近对加勒比海地区的船只进行袭击后，唐纳德·特朗普总统宣布毒品卡特尔为非法战斗人员，并表示美国现在处于“非国际性武装冲突”之中。

一位熟悉此事但未被授权公开评论的人士表示，五角大楼官员于周三通知国会有关这一认定。

此前，美军上个月在加勒比海对涉嫌走私毒品的船只进行了三次致命打击。其中至少两次行动的目标是来自委内瑞拉的船只。

据知情人士透露，五角大楼官员无法提供冲突中心所涉恐怖组织的名单，这令一些听取简报的议员感到非常沮丧。

民主党人一直敦促特朗普向国会申请战争权力授权，以开展此类行动。

白宫方面尚未对此事作出回应。

一位知情人士表示，几位参议员认为，政府在闭门机密简报会上提出的方案是寻求建立一个新的法律框架，这引发了人们的质疑，尤其是关于国会在授权此类行动中的作用。

随着美国政府将目标对准加勒比海地区的船只，两大政党的参议员和众议员都提出了强烈反对。此前，一些议员曾呼吁国会根据《战争权力法》行使权力，该法将禁止政府在未经国会授权的情况下进行打击行动。

9月2日，美军对一艘被特朗普政府称为运毒快艇的目标发动了首次军事打击，造成11人死亡。特朗普声称该快艇由“阿拉瓜列车”团伙操控，该团伙于今年早些时候被美国列为外国恐怖组织。

特朗普政府将此次军事行动辩称，这是阻止毒品流入美国的必要升级措施。

但多位参议员，包括民主党人和一些共和党人，以及人权组织，对特朗普此举的合法性提出质疑。他们认为这可能构成行政权力的过度扩张，部分原因是动用了军队进行执法。

特朗普声称他打击贩毒集团的行动是一场武装冲突，这似乎是在利用非同寻常的战时权力来为其行动辩护。