Gen. Francis L. Donovan, the head of the military’s Southern Command, acknowledged on Thursday that U.S. strikes against boats suspected of trafficking drugs in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific “aren’t the answer” to the nation’s drug problem.
General Donovan, in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the strikes had forced narco-terrorist groups in the region to change their operational patterns but were not a long-term solution. “Boat strikes aren’t the answer,” he said.
The United States has killed at least 157 people it accuses of smuggling drugs at sea in 45 strikes since early September. But the Trump administration has not provided evidence to support those claims.
Legal specialists on the use of lethal force have said the strikes are illegal, extrajudicial killings because the military cannot deliberately target civilians who do not pose an imminent threat of violence, even if suspected of engaging in criminal acts.
General Donovan, a four-star Marine Corps officer with an extensive background in Special Operations missions, told lawmakers that since taking over the command in February, he had started building a more comprehensive approach, working with regional allies like Ecuador.
“Boat strikes will be one of the main tools, and probably not the most effective,” he said.
The Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean from headquarters near Miami, has cited unspecified intelligence in its announcements of the boat strikes. The statements have repeatedly said the boats were traveling on “known narco-trafficking routes” and were “engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” But the administration has provided no details of these operations.
Eric Schmitt is a national security correspondent for The Times. He has reported on U.S. military affairs and counterterrorism for more than three decades.
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