Overview
- The Washington Post reports the administration first sought to have the CIA carry out lethal attacks on suspected traffickers, then shifted to the U.S. military when CIA attorneys objected.
- The Pentagon operation, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, has conducted 21 strikes on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, with government sources saying more than 80 people were killed.
- Officials rely on a classified October finding and a Justice Department legal rationale that frames the effort as a non‑international armed conflict with designated terrorist groups, a theory many experts dispute.
- Numerous career lawyers and officials who raised concerns were reassigned, removed, or left government, including the National Security Council’s full‑time legal staff, according to the reporting.
- Military and legal specialists warn the attacks could constitute extrajudicial killings, and some at the CIA fear blowback reminiscent of past covert controversies.