The Pentagon inspector general has begun an internal review of how the U.S. military conducted strikes against dozens of alleged drug-smuggling boats in Latin American waters, according to a letter to Defense Department officials and a statement from the watchdog agency.
The review will examine whether the military followed an established targeting process when carrying out the attacks that have killed nearly 200 people since early September, the Associated Press reported. The evaluation is centered on what the Pentagon describes as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle, which includes a commander’s intent, target development, analysis, decision, execution and assessment.
According to the May 11 letter to Defense Department officials, the inspector general’s office will focus specifically on that framework rather than conduct a broader review of the strikes’ underlying justification. The watchdog said in a statement that the review was “self-initiated,” and it said it would not provide a timeline for when the assessment will be completed.
The Associated Press also reported that the inspector general’s decision was first reported earlier by Bloomberg. The inspector general’s scope, as described in the reporting around the letter and statement, is limited to whether the targeting steps were followed as laid out in the cycle.
The decision lands amid intense political and legal scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars over the administration’s campaign against small boats accused of drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The Trump administration has said the United States is at war with Latin American drug cartels, which it links to fatal drug overdoses affecting communities in the United States.
The military has continued to carry out what it characterizes as attacks on vessels it says are involved in drug smuggling. The Associated Press reported that U.S. Southern Command said one person survived the latest attack on May 8, though it was not clear whether the Coast Guard found and rescued that survivor, which could affect the total death toll reported in the coverage.
Reporting on the campaign has also highlighted gaps between the military’s claims and what outside observers say is known about the vessels targeted. The military has not provided evidence that any of the boats were carrying drugs, according to the Associated Press, and it has pointed to social media posts describing intelligence that the boats were “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes.”
One earlier strike in the campaign prompted particular concern, the AP reported, after two men survived an initial attack that killed nine others and were reportedly clinging to wreckage when the vessel was struck again, killing them. In December, Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, described the situation as survivors “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.”
The White House has defended the follow-up strike. It confirmed that a second attack was carried out and insisted it was done “in self-defense” to destroy the boat and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict, the Associated Press reported.