The Pentagon’s inspector general has initiated a review of whether the U.S. military adhered to its own established targeting procedures during a campaign of strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels in Latin American waters — operations that have killed nearly 200 people since early September, according to a May 11 letter sent to Defense Department officials. The Pentagon watchdog’s office described the evaluation as “self-initiated” in a statement Tuesday and said it would not provide a timeline for when the review would be completed. As Main Street Independent previously reported, the review focuses specifically on the military’s six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle, which includes a commander’s intent, target development, analysis, decision, execution and assessment.
The inspector general’s evaluation will examine whether commanders followed that framework but will not probe the legality of the strikes themselves, according to the watchdog’s office. The distinction is significant: the review addresses process and procedure rather than the underlying legal authority for the campaign, which the Trump administration has grounded in a declared war against Latin American drug cartels.
The strikes have drawn sharp scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars since the campaign accelerated in early September. Critics have questioned whether the military is applying sufficient discrimination and proportionality standards when targeting small vessels that may carry drug traffickers alongside civilians. The administration has defended the operations as a necessary response to the illicit drug trade, which it says drives fatal overdoses in American communities.
The Associated Press first reported the inspector general’s review, citing the May 11 letter to Pentagon officials. The watchdog’s statement Tuesday confirmed the evaluation but declined to specify when findings would be released. The review covers strikes conducted across both the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean, waters where the U.S. military has increased interdiction operations under the administration’s expanded counter-narcotics mission.