Quelling the import of illegal narcotics is a laudable goal, and one that has eluded the United States for at least four decades. The effort took a radical turn this year with exciting yet confusing new narratives, some of which clashed this week.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth found himself before Congress this week explaining the opening salvo in America’s renewed fight against drugs: the Sept. 2 “double-strike” on alleged illicit drug smugglers, which killed 11 people, including two who survived the first blast that hit their boat.
There are several issues that persist around this strike. First, the abandonment of the decades-long search-seizure-arrest model of drug interdiction in the Caribbean, a multiagency effort known as the Organized Crime Enforcement Task Force (OCETF), which was officially disbanded this fall, replaced by military “lethal, kinetic strikes” against “narco-terrorists.”
These words are important. White House administrations have been circumventing Congressional war declaration powers for decades, and it’s important that any shooting operations sound temporary and retaliatory. Suddenly, a smuggler is no longer a low-level drug operative; they’re a dangerous terrorist threatening Americans.
One of the primary purposes of the now-defunct OCETF was to gain intelligence about smuggling operations, supply chains and kingpins. Obviously, this has gone by the wayside; dead (alleged) smugglers tell no tales.
At the same time, there has been much sabre-rattling over Venezuela. The Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group has been repositioned to the Caribbean, the President is openly making references to a ground invasion, and he met with his national security team Dec. 1 to discuss options for Venezuela.
The goal is the ouster of dictator Nicolas Maduro, who is also considered, I suppose correctly, a “narco-terrorist.” Venezuela has long been a transit corridor for cocaine; increasing instability and corruption have led to increased production and processing in-country.
Also this week, a presidential pardon was granted to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison for conspiring to traffic over 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. Congressional Republicans who support the administration’s actions in the Caribbean and against Venezuela are condemning this act. Hernández, while a “narco-terrorist” in every sense of the word, happens to be a right-wing one. So.
Much is being made of blowing suspected drug boats out of the water. It’s dramatic. It’s divisive. It’s attention-getting. It’s probably not stopping much cocaine from getting to the U.S. The 20-odd strikes that have taken place this fall are moving roughly at the same rate as the interception rate of the OCETF, which impacted about 4-6% of the cocaine coming into the country.
There are very valid debates about the military firing at noncombatants, who have been conveniently reclassified as “narco-terrorists” in this case. And the Sept. 2 attack clearly challenges a number of international conventions and Pentagon combat policy. Once a potential enemy is neutralized, that is, is unarmed or incapacitated, you capture them, you don’t kill them. This brings up the issue of war crimes.
It’s absolutely unfortunate to see the multiple conflicting answers from the leader of the Pentagon on this. It is unsurprising to see the admiral in charge of the operation accept responsibility. The action, from the information I have reviewed, was, in my opinion, inappropriate. But there will certainly be more reviews and investigations, and a determination will be made by those with the proper authority.
The point I want to make, as a national Federal police force has been created and deployed seemingly overnight, as the administration continues to deploy troops to cities, is that this operation is essentially a new police action. These “kinetic strikes” are a misplaced blurring of the Navy and law enforcement. And it’s being done in international waters, so there’s no accountability or sovereign permissions to ask.
As for me, I don’t like it.
Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at news.ind.merritt@gmail.com.
On the war on drugs
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Quelling the import of illegal narcotics is a laudable goal, and one that has eluded the United States for at least four decades. The effort took a radical turn this year with exciting yet confusing new narratives, some of which clashed this week.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth found himself before Congress this week explaining the opening salvo in America’s renewed fight against drugs: the Sept. 2 “double-strike” on alleged illicit drug smugglers, which killed 11 people, including two who survived the first blast that hit their boat.
There are several issues that persist around this strike. First, the abandonment of the decades-long search-seizure-arrest model of drug interdiction in the Caribbean, a multiagency effort known as the Organized Crime Enforcement Task Force (OCETF), which was officially disbanded this fall, replaced by military “lethal, kinetic strikes” against “narco-terrorists.”
These words are important. White House administrations have been circumventing Congressional war declaration powers for decades, and it’s important that any shooting operations sound temporary and retaliatory. Suddenly, a smuggler is no longer a low-level drug operative; they’re a dangerous terrorist threatening Americans.
One of the primary purposes of the now-defunct OCETF was to gain intelligence about smuggling operations, supply chains and kingpins. Obviously, this has gone by the wayside; dead (alleged) smugglers tell no tales.
At the same time, there has been much sabre-rattling over Venezuela. The Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group has been repositioned to the Caribbean, the President is openly making references to a ground invasion, and he met with his national security team Dec. 1 to discuss options for Venezuela.
The goal is the ouster of dictator Nicolas Maduro, who is also considered, I suppose correctly, a “narco-terrorist.” Venezuela has long been a transit corridor for cocaine; increasing instability and corruption have led to increased production and processing in-country.
Also this week, a presidential pardon was granted to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison for conspiring to traffic over 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S. Congressional Republicans who support the administration’s actions in the Caribbean and against Venezuela are condemning this act. Hernández, while a “narco-terrorist” in every sense of the word, happens to be a right-wing one. So.
Much is being made of blowing suspected drug boats out of the water. It’s dramatic. It’s divisive. It’s attention-getting. It’s probably not stopping much cocaine from getting to the U.S. The 20-odd strikes that have taken place this fall are moving roughly at the same rate as the interception rate of the OCETF, which impacted about 4-6% of the cocaine coming into the country.
There are very valid debates about the military firing at noncombatants, who have been conveniently reclassified as “narco-terrorists” in this case. And the Sept. 2 attack clearly challenges a number of international conventions and Pentagon combat policy. Once a potential enemy is neutralized, that is, is unarmed or incapacitated, you capture them, you don’t kill them. This brings up the issue of war crimes.
It’s absolutely unfortunate to see the multiple conflicting answers from the leader of the Pentagon on this. It is unsurprising to see the admiral in charge of the operation accept responsibility. The action, from the information I have reviewed, was, in my opinion, inappropriate. But there will certainly be more reviews and investigations, and a determination will be made by those with the proper authority.
The point I want to make, as a national Federal police force has been created and deployed seemingly overnight, as the administration continues to deploy troops to cities, is that this operation is essentially a new police action. These “kinetic strikes” are a misplaced blurring of the Navy and law enforcement. And it’s being done in international waters, so there’s no accountability or sovereign permissions to ask.
As for me, I don’t like it.
Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at news.ind.merritt@gmail.com.
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