'Would almost certainly fail': Retired Army general rips new Trump policy

14 August

Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertlin

Unlike War on Drugs promoters of the past, U.S. President Donald Trump is considering changing marijuana's classification from Schedule 1 drug to Schedule 3 substance. But when it comes to hard drugs such as fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine, Trump's proposals are flat-out draconian.

Trump favors expanding the death penalty to include drug trafficking. And he proposes using the U.S. military to fight drug cartels in Mexico.

But in an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on August 14, retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (who served as a U.S. Army Europe commander under former President Barack Obama) lays out what he considers major flaws in Trump's drug policy.

"On the surface," Herling argues, "Trump's idea of using America's military strength to attack the demand side of the drug trade has visceral appeal. It certainly did for me when I advocated a similar policy 35 years ago. The cartels are heavily armed, brutal, and sophisticated. Fentanyl deaths in the United States are killing Americans. And the U.S. military, on paper, has unmatched capabilities to hit these networks."

Hertling continues, "But as I cautioned in 1990, 'military forces cannot act alone in eradication efforts'…. In any operation inside Mexico, or any other country, U.S. forces would have to be part of a host-nation-led multinational force — invited, integrated, and under a framework that respects a foreign nation's sovereignty. Anything less would almost certainly fail diplomatically and could fail strategically."

The former U.S. Army Europe commander warns that using the U.S. military to combat drug cartels in Mexico would be "fraught with legal and political problems."

"Sending U.S. troops into Mexico without its consent would violate international law and rupture relations," Hertling explains. "Mexican leaders from across the political spectrum have made clear that any unilateral U.S. military action would be seen as an attack on their sovereignty. The Trump Administration has designated several Mexican and Venezuelan cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, but that status only applies to American domestic law."

Moreover, Herling laments, attacking Mexican drug cartels wouldn't erase the demand for hard drugs in the United States.

"It's tempting to frame the drug crisis as a fight against 'them,'" Herling writes. "But we can't avoid talking about us. If tens of millions of Americans are willing to pay for illegal drugs, someone somewhere will find a way to supply them. Demand reduction is slower, messier, and less dramatic than a military raid. It requires public health programs, addiction treatment, education, community investment, and political leadership. But without it, military strikes are just sweeping water out of a flooded house while the pipe is still gushing."

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.

From Your Site Articles