U.S. Lawmakers Call for Vigorous Oversight of Military Action in the Caribbean

What Happened?

Both Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Armed Service Committee vowed ‘vigorous oversight’ of recent U.S. military action in the Caribbean. The Washington Post reported that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave verbal orders to kill survivors of a U.S. military strike on alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean. Secretary Hegseth has denied the allegations, calling them baseless.

‘This rises to the level of a war crime if it's true,’ said Democratic Senator Tim Kaine on CBS Face the Nation. Republican Congressman Mike Turner added, ‘Obviously if that occurred, that would be very serious, and I agree that would be an illegal act.’

Why it Matters

The legality of U.S. military actions against alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean has come into question as the number of strikes against those vessels has increased. The Washington Post reports that Secretary of Defense Hegseth ordered survivors of an attack to be killed has not been confirmed by other news outlets. But if true, the orders would violate the terms of the Geneva Convention, to which the United States is a signatory. The U.S. Constitution states that treaties ratified by Congress shall be considered the law of the land.

As several previous administrations have done, the Trump Administration has cited the 2002 Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF law, as the legal basis for conducting military operations in the Caribbean. The AUMF authorizes military action against designated terrorist organizations engaged in conducting or planning attacks against the United States. Recently, the Trump Administration has designated several drug trafficking organizations in Latin America as narco-terrorist groups. 

Drug cartels do fit the definition of terrorist organizations in one sense, that they use violence to achieve political objectives, often threatening or attacking government officials who do not give them what they want. But drug cartels are very different from the type of terrorist groups the AUMF was intended to defeat, namely religious inspired groups from the Middle East. Cartels are more like multinational corporations; their motive is profit, not ideology. Most drug cartels don’t care who their leader is as long as they are making money, so killing drug leaders and traffickers often has little effect.

It is possible Congress has taken a keener interest in the legality of U.S. military actions after President Trump made comments suggesting some members of Congress be executed for sedition. Secretary of Defense Hegseth has vowed to investigate Senator Mark Kelly, even though Kelly is a civilian and not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Investigations by Congress into military action in the Caribbean may be motivated in part to reassert Congressional authority in the face of executive branch threats.

How it Affects You

Since the passage of the AUMF in 2002, Congress has been mostly deferential to Presidential authority on the use of force against terrorist organizations. Both Democratic and Republican presidents have used the AUMF to justify a wide range of military action. It is possible the mood in Congress is finally changing.