Dems (and some Republicans) say narco strikes are illegal

Over the last few weeks, Donald Trump and our military have been conducting strikes on alleged drug-running boats.

I have been open that I love the strategy, but there are some legalities that are being discussed, and it is not going well for Trump.

This is not only a talking point on the left, but Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is among those leading the charge.

Expanding Land Operations

First, there is the issue of the resignation of Adm. Alvin Holsey, who was the Southern Command's (SOUTHCOM) commanding officer.

When Trump discussed expanding the strikes to land operations, Holsey called it quits and left, and there was a lot of speculation that he was doing so out of concern for legal issues related to these strikes.

At the time, Trump stated, “We will hit them very hard when they come in by land. And they haven’t experienced that yet, but now we’re totally prepared to do that.”

The president continued, “We’ll probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we’re doing when [they] come to the land.”

Expanding Operations

This week, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the operations were going to expand to the Pacific after yet another boat was taken out off the coast of Colombia.

He announced on X, “Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel being operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization and conducting narco-trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.”

Hegseth further warned, “Narco-terrorists intending to bring poison to our shores will find no safe harbor anywhere in our hemisphere.”

He continued, “Just as Al Qaeda waged war on our homeland, these cartels are waging war on our border and our people. There will be no refuge or forgiveness -- only justice.”

Legal Issues

Legal experts on this matter, such as Prof. Luke Moffett of Queens University Belfast, say that Trump classifying these operations as terrorist operations and declaring that we are in an “armed conflict” will not be enough to keep Trump and everyone else involved in these strikes out of legal problems.

He explained, "Force can be used to stop a boat but generally this should be non-lethal measures.” He then continued, "The fact that US officials describe the individuals killed by the US strike as narco-terrorists does not transform them into lawful military targets. The US is not engaged in an armed conflict with Venezuela or the Tren de Aragua criminal organization.” Prof. Moffett added: "Labeling everyone a terrorist does not make them a lawful target and enables states to side-step international law."

Senator Rand Paul has been all over the media about this, also questioning the legalities of the strikes, which could open up Trump, Hegseth, and everyone involved on the military side to prosecution if it is deemed that they are just executing people without due process.

This is really starting to get some traction with Democrats and the media, and it is not going to get any better for Trump. I am not crying wolf here, as I believe this could wind up being a very serious problem for this administration and our military if Democrats take back Congress, as they will go after Trump. If not now, the next time Dems get the DOJ, this will likely be atop their wish list to prosecute Trump and Hegseth, at the very least.