The Pentagon inspector general is set to evaluate whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework in its campaign of attacks on dozens of alleged drug-smuggling boats in Latin America waters, an Associated Press report based on a May 11 letter to Defense Department officials said. The review comes as the strikes have killed nearly 200 people since early September and have generated intense scrutiny among some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars, AP said.
In a statement Tuesday, the inspector general’s office described the review as “self-initiated” and said it would not provide a timeline for when it would be completed, AP reported. The Pentagon watchdog evaluation is intended to examine the process used for targeting decisions rather than reopening the underlying question of whether the strikes were lawful, according to the same reporting.
The review will focus specifically on what the letter described as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle. The phases include a military commander’s intent, target development, analysis, decision, execution and assessment, AP said, outlining a structured sequence the military uses when it plans and carries out strikes.
AP reported that the evaluation “will not probe the legality of the strikes,” even as the attacks have faced political and academic criticism. The Trump administration has said the United States is at war against Latin American drug cartels and that it is striking boats tied to cartel activity, AP said.
The strikes have persisted since early September, and U.S. Southern Command has said one person survived the latest attack on May 8, AP reported. It was not clear, AP said, whether the Coast Guard was able to find and rescue the survivor, which could affect the overall death toll.
According to AP, the U.S. military has repeatedly pointed to intelligence used to justify the attacks, including claims carried in social media posts that the vessels were “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes.” The military has not, AP said, provided evidence that the vessels were carrying drugs.
The early September strike drew particular concern, AP reported. In that case, two men survived an initial attack that killed nine others and were clinging to wreckage when the vessel was struck again and both men were killed.
AP said Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, had criticized that sequence in December, saying the survivors were “basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water — until the missiles come and kill them.”
AP also reported that the White House confirmed a follow-up strike in that case, saying it was carried out “in self-defense” to ensure the boat was destroyed and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.
In the meantime, the inspector general’s office said it would not provide a completion timeline for the evaluation, leaving unclear how soon the Pentagon may address the questions being raised about the targeting process used in the campaign.