The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial board on Monday slammed President Donald Trump’sstrikes against alleged drug boats in international waters and argued the move could backfire on the president.
The Trump administration has conducted more than a dozen strikes against alleged drug boats since taking office, moves that have killed nearly 100 people. The strikes have inspired significant debate among legal experts and have seemed to split Trump’s MAGA base.
The Journal’s editorial boardargued that Trump deserves “wide latitude” on the strikes, but added that Trump risks losing support for the strikes because he has offered scant evidence to support his claims that they are justified.
“Our view is that the Commander in Chief deserves legal latitude as part of his constitutional war powers,” the editorial board wrote. “But that doesn’t extend to shooting the wounded in violation of U.S. and international rules of war. The Pentagon’s own law of war manual prohibits ‘hostilities on the basis that there shall be no survivors.’ Such excesses will also turn the public against allowing a President the power he may someday need to defend the country’s interests quickly.”
“The drug-boat war is presenting questions of presidential power and America’s role in the world that will continue long after President Trump leaves Washington, and good for lawmakers who appreciate the stakes,” the editorial board added.
Read the entire editorial by clicking here.
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