Baba UmarWashington DC — The Pentagon has defended US strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, stating the strikes (21 so far) are lawful and have killed 82 "narco-terrorists", adding each strike has potentially "saved 25,000 Americans" from dying of a drug overdose.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson also said that the Department of War has a plan in case Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro — who has a $50 million bounty on his head from the US — steps down and leaves his country.
"The department has a contingency plan for everything. We are a planning organisation, if anything were to happen around the world, we have a response planned and ready," Wilson said.
"Our focus is taking out narco terrorists and rooting out that threat that is poisoning the American people. Every single boat that we strike saves 25,000 American lives. That is a crucial mission to protecting the homeland, and we're proud to be a part of it."
When asked to describe the process the Trump administration would use to determine whether or not current members of the Venezuelan military or Venezuelan government have a role in a post-Maduro Venezuela, she stated, "That would be a determination for the President [Donald Trump] to make, but I can tell you that every single person who we have hit thus far, who is in a drug boat carrying narcotics to the US is a narco terrorist. Our intelligence has confirmed that, and we stand by it."
The Pentagon's press briefing came a day after US President Trump and top national security officials — including Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine — discussed next steps on Venezuela in an Oval Office meeting.
On Tuesday, Trump held a Cabinet meeting amid tensions with Venezuela and concerns that Washington — which has amassed a significant build-up near the South American country, including the world's largest aircraft carrier, nuclear submarines, and F-35 jets — may launch strikes inside Venezuela.
Trump, who states that US actions are solely against drug trafficking, has also threatened to extend operations to land. He has warned that Venezuelan airspace "should be considered closed" and designated the Cartel de los Soles — which Washington claims is led by Maduro — as a foreign terrorist organisation.
Post-strike assessments
Maduro denies criminal links and accuses the US of using drug trafficking as a guise to topple his government in Caracas.
Trump said on Sunday he had spoken with Maduro recently, without giving details. Maduro says he remained ready for a direct meeting with Trump.
"We want peace, but peace with sovereignty, equality, freedom. We do not want a slave’s peace, nor the peace of colonies," Maduro told supporters on Monday.
Several Senate Democrats have increased their demands for the Trump administration to publicly disclose the legal justification for conducting attacks near Venezuela.
Some former military and law enforcement officials, along with legal analysts, contend that the strikes are illegal and constitute extrajudicial killings. Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has stated that the strikes "violate international human rights law."
The Pentagon press secretary, however, defended US strikes as "lawful".
"Our operations in the SOUTHCOM region are lawful under both US and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict. These actions have also been approved by the best military and civilian lawyers up and down the chain of command," Wilson said.
Based in Florida, the US Southern Command (or SOUTHCOM) oversees US military operations in a vast region that includes Central America, South America, and the Caribbean, encompassing 31 countries and 12 dependencies.
When asked if the US is conducting any post-strike assessments to ascertain the accuracy of the intelligence informing those strikes, Wilson affirmed the intelligence input, stating, "I can tell you that without a shadow of a doubt, every single one of our military and civilian lawyers knows that these individuals are narco-terrorists. We know what they're carrying, where they're coming from, and where they're going. I can 100 percent affirm that we know without a shadow of a doubt who these narco-terrorists are."
