Podcast: legal aspects of alleged drug boat strikes and more!
I was pleased to join journalist Ben Wolfgang‘s terrific “Threat Status” podcast last week (co-host Guy Taylor wasn’t able to join the discussion). As Ben says, we talked “about the legal questions swirling around the Trump administration’s targeting of alleged drug boats.”
That wasn’t all. We also addressed the use of the military for domestic security, the roles of law and judge advocates in warfighting, and other national security topics. Take a listen here.
Here’s the description of the podcast series:
“An edgy and informative look at the biggest U.S. national security and geopolitical issues making headlines right now. Less about hot takes and more about depth, the Threat Status podcast is helmed by veteran Washington Times journalists Ben Wolfgang and Guy Taylor and features regular appearances by insiders with expertise on war, politics and global affairs.”
In a front-page story in yesterday’s Washington Times, Ben quoted parts of the interview in his article here. He notes that I “argued that the administration has not offered a convincing legal case for its actions, at least not publicly.” Here’s another part:
“Is this an armed conflict? I think a case could be made — we haven’t really heard any details from the administration — that drugs are, in essence, an arm. We do have a chemical weapons treaty, so the idea of chemicals being weaponized is not new. Some might say, ‘Well, wait a second, they’re not trying to kill anybody.’ Maybe not, but they certainly are intending to harm people, especially with cocaine. They want to create addicts,” Mr. Dunlap said of the drug cartels.
I hope to address these complicated issues in more detail in two upcoming posts. The first will examine the law enforcement model, how it works (or doesn’t), and whether lethal force is ever lawful under that legal regime. The second will examine reliance on the distinct law-of-war legal regime to strike the boats.
That said, I believe we really don’t have enough information to definitively determine, one way or another, the legality of the attacks.
In any event, stay tuned!
Remember what we like to say on Lawfire®: gather the facts, examine the law, evaluate the arguments – and then decide for yourself!
