A senior military lawyer at U.S. Southern Command raised concerns that the Trump administration's strikes on 'drug boats' in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific could amount to extrajudicial killings, but was reportedly ignored by higher-ups. Marine Colonel Paul Meagher, the judge advocate general (JAG) at Southern Command, flagged the legal issues in August, before the first strikes on 2 September, according to sources who spoke to NBC News.
The strikes, which have since expanded to the eastern Pacific, have killed at least 80 people in 20 attacks on alleged smuggling vessels. Meagher's concerns align with those of human rights groups and international law experts, who have warned that the operations are illegal. The governments of Venezuela and Colombia have also accused the US of engaging in extrajudicial murder.
Internal fallout from the strikes includes the upcoming resignation of Southern Command head Admiral Alvin Holsey, who announced in October that he would step down this month after less than a year in the role. The Pentagon has denied the claims of illegality. Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell stated that the operations are lawful under US and international law, and that no lawyers with knowledge of the strikes have raised concerns.
The strikes were authorised by a secret Department of Justice memo, which justified the use of force based on the assertion that the US is in a state of armed conflict with drug cartels. This legal argument mirrors the authority used by the George W. Bush administration after the 11 September 2001 attacks.
