Trump Declares Cartels 'Unlawful Combatants'

President Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a "non-international armed conflict" after recent US strikes on boats in the Caribbean, according to a Trump administration memo obtained by outlets including the AP and the New York Times.

• A source tells the AP that Congress was notified about the designation by Pentagon officials on Wednesday. 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, the source says.

• The move comes after the US 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. Democrats have been pressing Trump to go to Congress and seek war powers authority for such operations.
• The notice to lawmakers said Trump has determined that drug cartels are "nonstate armed groups" and that their actions "constitute an armed attack against the United States," the Times reports. "Based upon the cumulative effects of these hostile acts against the citizens and interests of the United States and friendly foreign nations, the president determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations." The Times notes that in international law, "non-international armed conflict" normally refers to civil wars.

• The notice only mentioned one of the three strikes, the Sept. 15 attack on a boat the administration said was carrying drugs from Venezuela, CNN reports. "Although this strike was limited in scope, US forces remain postured to carry out military operations as necessary to prevent further deaths or injury to American citizens by eliminating the threat posed by these designated terrorist organizations," the notice says.
• 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, the AP reports. By claiming his campaign against drug cartels is an active armed conflict, Trump appears to be claiming extraordinary wartime powers to justify his action.
• In a statement to CNN, Democratic Sen. Jack Reed said the administration "has offered no credible legal justification, evidence, or intelligence for these strikes." Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, added: "Drug cartels are despicable and must be dealt with by law enforcement. But now, by the President's own words, the US military is engaged in armed conflict with undefined enemies he has unilaterally labeled 'unlawful combatants,' and he has deployed thousands of troops, ships, and aircraft against them. Yet he has refused to inform Congress or the public. Every American should be alarmed that their President has decided he can wage secret wars against anyone he calls an enemy."