By Nathan Worcester, Ryan Morgan
Contributing Writers
WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., offered his ringing endorsement of a recent closed-door briefing on the ongoing campaign of U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats from Latin America, and urged the Trump administration to go public with its legal rationale for the operations.
Rogers was among a handful of lawmakers briefed on the strikes on Nov. 5, in a closed-door sensitive compartmented information facility, commonly referred to as a “SCIF.” Such facilities are used to control access to information that the U.S. government has classified.
“There was nothing that we should have been in a SCIF talking about,” Rogers, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, said on Wednesday. “They should be talking to all y’all, because it was very well done, completely legal what they’re doing, and they should be more transparent about it, in my view.”
Alongside a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean Sea and a campaign of pressure against Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro that have been growing since the summer, U.S. forces have been bombing suspected drug boats in the region since September. In that time, U.S. forces have conducted at least seven strikes in the Caribbean Sea, nine in the eastern Pacific, and three more in unspecified locations throughout the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, which covers Central America and South America.
“I’m fine with what they’re doing down there, and I think that the lawyers that did that, talked about the legal basis, should do it publicly,” Rogers said.
The ongoing U.S. military campaign, which the Trump administration has described as a “non-international armed conflict,” has met with skepticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
For now, it does not appear that the Trump administration is preparing to share an unclassified version of its legal justifications of the strikes with the general public.
Responding to a request for comment, a White House official reiterated that the materials disclosed to lawmakers regarding the strikes are classified.
The White House official said that all of the strikes have occurred within international waters and U.S. forces have carried out these operations in full compliance with the laws of armed conflict.
“In each case, the vessel was assessed by the U.S. intelligence community to be affiliated with a designated terrorist organization engaged at that time in trafficking illicit drugs, which could ultimately be used to kill Americans,” the White House official stated.
President Donald Trump and members of his administration have also repeatedly said that targeted vessels have been confirmed by U.S. intelligence to be trafficking illicit drugs and operating along known narco-trafficking routes.
Asked about the specific locations of the various strikes, a Pentagon spokesperson said those details are classified.
Strikes Divide Lawmakers
The select group of U.S. lawmakers briefed on Nov. 5 included the Republican and Democratic leaders of both the House and the Senate, as well as the Republican chairman and ranking Democratic members of the House and Senate committees overseeing the U.S. military, intelligence community, and U.S. foreign relations.
There have been seven separate classified briefings on the recent strikes in the waters around Latin America since September, according to the White House official.
While the Republican leaders included in the briefings have continued to support the operations, the Democratic leaders briefed have continued to share reservations about the lethal strikes.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the Democrat co-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said last week, “The notion on the kinetic strikes without actually interdicting and demonstrating to the American public that these are carrying drugs and they’re full of bad guys, I think is a huge mistake, and I think it undermines the confidence in the administration’s actions.”
Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said U.S. intelligence assets have been used to confirm targeted vessels were carrying cocaine, but he said “lots of mistakes could get made.”
Some lawmakers who haven’t had the benefit of the closed-door briefings continue to express their concerns.
“I’ve been given no briefing on this. I think the only people given briefings were people that might not be as skeptical as I am,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said last week.
Paul and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, have both joined the majority of Senate Democrats in two recent votes seeking to constrain Trump’s use of military force in the waters around Latin America and against Venezuela specifically.
While he opposed both resolutions to limit Trump’s war-making powers in the region, Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., expressed reservations about the ongoing strikes.
“As a matter of policy, I am troubled by many aspects and assumptions of this operation and believe it is at odds with the majority of Americans who want the U.S. military less entangled in international conflicts,” Young said in a Nov. 6 statement.
Melanie Sun contributed to this report.
