President Trump’s military campaign against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean is drawing bipartisan criticism in the Senate, with lawmakers accusing the administration of running roughshod over the Constitution and leaving them in the dark.
Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, voiced his concerns on “Fox News Sunday,” saying, “The Constitution says that when you go to war, Congress has to vote on it.”
“During a war … there are lower rules for engagement, people do sometimes get killed without due process,” Mr. Paul said. “But the drug war, or the crime war, has typically been something we do through law enforcement. And so far, they have alleged these people are drug dealers, no one said their name, no one said what evidence, no one said whether they are armed, and we have had no evidence presented.”
“So at this point, I would call them extrajudicial killings,” he said.
The Trump administration has declared that the United States is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, which it has designated as terrorist organizations. Since early September, the military has conducted at least 10 strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean, several near the coast of Venezuela.
Despite the administration’s claims, members of Congress say they have not been shown evidence that the targeted boats were carrying narcotics. Mr. Trump has defended the strikes, asserting that every deadly strike saves American lives and hinting at further escalation.
“You know the land is going to be next, and we may go to the Senate, we may go to the Congress and tell them about it, but I can’t imagine they will have any problem with it,” the president told reporters last week. “We’re going to tell them what we’re going to do, and I think they’ll probably like it, except for the radical left lunatics.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, expressed concern that the administration may be pursuing regime change in Venezuela. President Nicolás Maduro recently accused the U.S. of “fabricating” a war against him, as the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford moved closer to Venezuelan waters.
“That is not something a president should be deciding on his own — especially since America has often gotten regime change very, very wrong when we have decided to do it, Mr. Kaine said. “Often it leads to more instability.”
Mr. Paul also said he is baffled by news reports that two survivors of a strike were sent back to Colombia and Ecuador without a trial.
“So, in the one instance, you’re killed on site,” he said. “In the other instance, if you’re captured, we just say, ‘Oh, well, we’re going to send you back to your country.’”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
