A high-level defense official told a House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the continuing operations against Latin American drug cartels were “just the beginning”, and left open the possibility of deploying ground forces.
The official, acting assistant secretary of defense for the Department of Homeland Defense John Humire, told the committee that these operations–referred to as Operation Southern Spear–are “saving American lives.” So far, according to Defense Department statistics, over 157 people have been killed in the 45 strikes against alleged cartel boats since September.
“Interdiction is necessary, but insufficient. Deterrence has a signalling effect on narco-terrorists and raises the risks with their movement.”
Humire’s remarks raised alarm amongst congressional Democrats, who are concerned if the strikes have had any meaningful impact on the amount of narcotics entering the US; as well as the legality of the strikes and the possibility of another “forever war”, that is, another open-ended foreign conflict with no clear goals or stated end date.
Humire claims that since the start of the operation, there has been a 20 percent reduction in drug vessels travelling the Caribbean, and a 25 percent reduction in East Pacific traffic. However, committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) questioned if these numbers reflect the fact that smugglers have simply moved to new shipping lanes or land routes.
On the other hand, Republicans on the committee largely rebuked the Democratic criticism and praised the purported success of the operations. Committee Chair Mike Rodgers (R-Ala.) stated, “Defending the homeland does not stop at our border. It also requires confronting threats at their source. The president has made it clear that narco-terrorists and hostile foreign powers will find no sanctuary or foothold anywhere in our hemisphere.”
Humire’s statements come in the wake of Trump’s announcement of an anti-cartel coalition, dubbed Shield of the Americas, which includes 11 South and Central American nations alongside the United States. The US has already engaged in joint operations with Ecuador earlier this month, in order to take down a drug-smuggling facility, and is currently providing logistical support for a criminal crackdown in three of its provinces.
At the unveiling ceremony for the Shield of the Americas, Trump stated that the US will “soon be coming to Cuba” and that its government is “very much at the end of the line.”
