All posts tagged "Lethal Boat Strikes"

A top defense official told Congress on Tuesday that the United States had not ruled out ground troops in its ongoing conflict against Latin American drug cartels, and so far, military operations in Central and South America were "just the beginning," according to a Politico report.

Joseph Humire, acting assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, said that lethal boat strikes against alleged drug boats were expected to continue indefinitely. Humire was speaking to a House Armed Services Committee, where Democratic lawmakers had questioned whether the United States had entered another "forever war" without a clear exit strategy or deadline.

"It’s the latest example of the administration doubling down on aggressive foreign policy interventions without clarifying what victory might look like, despite President Donald Trump’s past campaign pledges to avoid embroiling America in more overseas conflicts," Politico reported. "And it raises the prospect that the nation’s armed forces could be further strained amid a massive air war over Iran."...

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) was among several lawmakers grilling Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the US attacks on Venezuela.

Kaine called out Rubio and the Trump administration for not seeking congressional approval or consulting lawmakers in the five months since initiating strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea, sending troops into the conflict and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

"We started this operation on September 2nd with the attack on Venezuelans and boats in open waters, and now we are nearly five months in. Next week is five months. Finally, a public hearing! Wow! How novel," Kaine said. "Finally, a public hearing in the Senate or House. This is the first public hearing we've had. Two hundred folks who are on secret designated combatant lists have been killed, U.S. troops have been injured, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent, an armada amassed the announcement of a new Monroe Doctrine, which does not land well in the Americas. Democrats have been asking over and over again, can we have a public hearing? Can we share what we know with the American public? Finally, a public hearing. But even that hearing is constrained."...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) got into a fiery argument Tuesday over the Trump administration's lethal boat strikes in the Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela.

The two were at a classified briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Hegseth and House lawmakers when Kelly, who was apparently sitting in the front row, asked about the ongoing operations, Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio wrote on X.

Hegseth — whose Department of Defense is investigating Kelly over a video he made with other Democratic lawmakers warning active military members not to follow unlawful orders — reportedly responded and referenced the difference between lawful and unlawful orders. The lawmakers in the video, including Kelly, are all veterans. ...