The Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General said the review was “self-initiated.” It will not investigate the legality of the strike.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military attacked another vessel suspected of transporting drugs in uncharted waters somewhere in the Eastern Pacific on Wednesday, killing two people.
Released by U.S. Southern Command Videos on social media A ship is shown sitting on the water before being hit by an explosion. The final seconds of the video show smoke and flames billowing from the ship.
One day ago, the US military launched an attack on a suspected drug trafficking ship in the Eastern Pacific, killing one man and leaving two survivors. Southern Command said it “immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate a search and rescue system for survivors.”
The Trump administration’s campaign to blow up suspected drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and Caribbean, has been going on since early September In total, at least 196 people died. The military has not yet provided evidence that any of the ships were carrying drugs.
Pentagon regulators said last week they would assess whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when conducting attacks on suspected drug-smuggling vessels. The six-phase joint targeting cycle includes military commander intent, targeting, analysis, decision-making, execution, and evaluation.
The Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General said the review was “self-initiated.” It will not investigate the legality of the attacks, which have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars.
The Trump administration says the United States is at war with Latin American drug cartels, which it says are responsible for the scourge of deadly drug overdoses plaguing many American communities.
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