Kathrine Frich
The senator firmly rejected the official narrative.
When a government uses military force, transparency usually vanishes first.
Operations conducted in the shadows can quickly drift away from their original goals, leading to disastrous mistakes.
And once lives are lost, the consequences are impossible to reverse.
A harsh accusation
Senator Tim Kaine has leveled a massive claim against the current administration regarding a military campaign targeting drug boats.
Following a deep look at classified intelligence, the Virginia Democrat concluded that an ongoing ocean mission has taken innocent lives. He sent a stern letter directly to President Donald Trump on Monday to lay out his findings, according to CNN.
The operation started last September and carries the name Southern Spear. Since then, the military has destroyed at least 67 boats and killed a minimum of 221 people.
Innocent lives lost
The administration considers these targets to be unlawful combatants in an armed conflict against cartels. But the senator firmly rejected that official narrative.
Kaine declared that the dead likely include “individuals who are not involved in narcotrafficking.” He did not mince words in his letter to the White House. “They are murder victims,” he wrote.
Based on his access to the Senate Armed Services Committee, he claimed the attacks have escalated drastically. He noted that “the United States is engaged in violent and fatal attacks against people far beyond” the original legal boundaries.
He asked the president to halt the strikes immediately, describing the effort as “illegal, costly and ineffective.”
Fighting the cartels
The White House quickly fired back. A spokesperson told CNN that every operation targeted dangerous criminals.
Anna Kelly stated that the strikes hit “designated narcoterrorists bringing deadly poison to our shores, and the President will continue to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding into our country and to bring those responsible to justice.”
The US Southern Command maintains that these aggressive tactics stop drug violence before it reaches American soil. Still, CNN reported that military leaders do not always know exactly who is riding on the targeted vessels.
Curiously, the boat bombings have completely paused for over a month. The last recorded incident took place in late June, and officials remain silent on why the campaign suddenly stopped.
Sources: CNN
