Overview
- The Pentagon confirmed a Nov. 10 strike that killed four people in the Caribbean, bringing the publicly acknowledged tally to roughly 20 attacks and about 80 deaths since September.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth formally branded the effort Operation Southern Spear as the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group arrived in the region with about 12,000 sailors and Marines and additional F-35s and a submarine.
- Senior national security officials held multiple White House meetings this week to brief the president on options that include potential strikes inside Venezuela, though no land operation has been authorized.
- Reporting on a Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel opinion says the campaign is framed as an armed conflict with drug cartels and argues for battlefield immunity for U.S. personnel.
- The United Kingdom has curtailed intelligence sharing over legality concerns, U.N. and rights experts have urged investigations into possible extrajudicial killings, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows a slim majority of Americans oppose the strikes.