Trump Considers Expanding Anti-Drug Operations with Potential Ground Missions in Venezuela and Colombia
Washington D.C. – President Donald Trump is considering expanding U.S. anti-drug operations to include potential ground missions in Venezuela and Colombia, following a series of naval engagements in the Caribbean and Pacific. senator Lindsey Graham revealed this possibility on Sunday,stating the President intends to brief Congress on the matter upon his return from Asia.
“President Trump told me yesterday that he plans to brief members of Congress about possible future military operations against Venezuela and Colombia,” Graham said in an interview on CBS’ ‘Face The Nation.’ He affirmed that the White House is indeed contemplating ground attacks, adding, “There will be a briefing in Congress on the possible expansion of the sea to land. I support that idea.”
The announcement comes after over a month of U.S. military actions targeting vessels suspected of drug trafficking near the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia. The U.S. Army has confirmed sinking at least ten boats since early September, resulting in the deaths of approximately 43 individuals. The White House defends these actions as necessary to protect Americans from the influx of illegal drugs.
However, the operations have drawn criticism, with some arguing the attacks are unlawful due to the lack of due process for those aboard the vessels and the inability to definitively prove they were transporting narcotics.
Senator Rubén Gallego (D-AZ) labeled the military actions “authorized murder” in an interview with NBCS ’Meet the Press,’ deeming the resulting deaths “needless.”
Senator Graham strongly refuted this criticism, asserting that the U.S. military is not engaging in unlawful killings. “they are making the United States safer by pursuing a narco-terrorist. They are following legal orders,” he stated, defending the President’s authority to order the sinking of suspected drug-smuggling ships as part of the broader war on drugs.
Graham emphasized that these actions are aimed at protecting the U.S.from “poisoning by narcoterrorists from Venezuela and Colombia.”
