WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s internal oversight office will examine whether proper targeting procedures were followed during military strikes against suspected drug-smuggling vessels in Latin American waters that have resulted in nearly 200 fatalities since September.
According to a May 11 correspondence to Defense Department leadership, the review will specifically examine adherence to the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle protocol. This framework encompasses a military commander’s objectives, target identification, analysis, decision-making, execution and evaluation phases.
In a Tuesday statement, the Pentagon inspector general’s office indicated the review was “self-initiated” and declined to establish a completion timeline. Bloomberg first reported on the evaluation.
The examination will not address the legal aspects of these strikes, which have faced sharp criticism from Democratic legislators and military law experts. The current administration characterizes its actions as warfare against Latin American drug cartels, citing their role in fatal overdoses affecting American communities.
This campaign of destroying small vessels suspected of drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea has continued since September, resulting in at least 193 total deaths. U.S. Southern Command reported one survivor from the most recent May 8 attack, though it remains unclear whether the Coast Guard located and rescued this individual, which could increase the casualty count.
Military officials have not presented evidence of drug cargo aboard any targeted vessels, instead consistently referencing intelligence in social media communications confirming these boats were “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes.”
The military’s initial September strike has generated particular concern among legislators and military law experts. Two individuals initially survived the attack that claimed nine lives, but while clinging to debris, their vessel was struck a second time, killing them.
The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee said in December that 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.”
The White House defended the secondary strike, stating it was conducted “in self-defense” to ensure complete vessel destruction and complied with armed conflict regulations.
