A U.S. senator revealed that he's seen the official “execute order” signed by President Donald Trump that outlines the criteria for oat strikes in the Caribbean.
In a letter to the White House, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) wrote that the U.S. military has “exceeded” the parameters that Trump agreed to in striking the drug-smuggling boats, ABC News reported Monday.
According to the statement, Trump's targeting criteria mean that they have likely killed civilians.
Kaine, a senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that briefings have provided details on the targets and that, by their own rules, the military strikes didn't fit what Trump approved.
“My review of your directive, the [Office of Legal Counsel] legal opinion, the EXORD and the notifications of the boat strikes, makes clear that the United States is engaged in violent and fatal attacks against people far beyond those whom the OLC opinion claimed could be lawfully targeted. In other words, a careful review of the available evidence suggests that the United States has killed individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking,” Kaine continued. “They are murder victims.”
“You selected numerous organizations for targeting,” Kaine wrote, addressing Trump. “That target list is classified so I cannot reveal it.”
“Importantly, the classification of the list means that those you have asked the Department of Defense to target are entirely unaware that they are marked for execution,” he said.
Thus far, at least 218 people have been killed by military bombing and the operation has cost over $820 million, a recent inspector general report said.
In a Truth Social post, Trump claimed “98.2 percent of Drugs coming into the U.S. by Ocean or Sea have STOPPED!” But neither he, the Pentagon, nor the Department of Homeland Security has provided evidence for the claim.
Kaine disputes the assertion, writing, “Adding to the deep concern over these illegal killings is the fact, recently confirmed by the Drug Enforcement Administration, that Operation Southern Spear has had no effect on the flow of illegal drugs into the United States."
As The Washington Post reported last week, the amount of cocaine entering the United States hasn't changed despite the hefty spending from the Pentagon.
In a Pentagon congressional briefing, a DEA assessment and "interviews with current and former U.S. and foreign officials," The Post found that there has been no change in the supply and price of cocaine hasn't changed.
Instead of using the multi-engine "go fast boats," the report said that drug traffickers have started using larger boats that travel close to the coastline. They're also using more aircraft transportation. In the first few months when the strikes began, it did disrupt some of the operations. But in the months since, the "smugglers have adapted to the intensified pressure," the DEA analysis said.
Kaine's letter tells the president the operations have "dubious legality" and achieved nothing.