Stephen Chamberlin, Leanne Lusk and Brian McNamara, all three retired career Coast Guard officers with deep experience in maritime law enforcement, denounced Pete Hegseth’s boat war in South America in a commentary in the journal Just Security.
“Officials portray these strikes as a tougher approach to combating narcotics trafficking. In reality, they represent something far more troubling: an unlawful expansion of military force into what has long been—and should remain—a law enforcement mission,” they write in a very succinct summary, the points of which they develop over the course of their article. “This policy is legally unsound, strategically counterproductive, and morally corrosive. It weakens the international partnerships that have underpinned successful maritime drug interdiction for decades while placing American servicemembers in the impossible position of carrying out actions that may conflict with the law and their own personal and professional ethics. Drug smugglers are criminals—not enemy combatants—and treating them as military targets undermines both the rule of law and America’s credibility abroad.”
They report that there is no compelling evidence that the strategy is succeeding. “Public reporting indicates that while trafficking routes briefly shifted and cocaine prices temporarily fluctuated, the availability, purity, and price of cocaine in the United States have largely returned to pre-operation levels.”
