Drug cartels can be treated as wartime enemies

Overview Debates Related claims Topics Sources

The United States should conduct military operations inside Latin American countries

Expanded U.S. military operations will not reduce Latin American cartel power

Labeling cartels terrorist threats does not by itself justify military force

Presidents should need Congress before using military force against drug cartels

The Pentagon should be able to keep the legal basis for lethal strikes secret

The U.S. military should be able to strike cartel boats without finding drugs on board

U.S. troops should not risk their lives rescuing survivors of cartel-boat strikes

Impeachment remains necessary when presidential war-making exceeds Congress’s constitutional authority

Election victories should not shield presidents from congressional accountability for constitutional violations

Congressional impeachment of Trump would clarify limits on executive power for future presidents

Investigating Trump’s cabinet officials first would shift accountability away from Trump’s own constitutional violations

Congress should prohibit strikes on boats outside U.S. territorial waters

Suspected smugglers killed at sea were entitled to a chance to surrender

Pete Hegseth should release strike rules to Congress

The United States should treat cartel vessels as national-security threats

The House should impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

Troops who carried out the vessel strikes should be shielded from prosecution

Pentagon strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels amount to extrajudicial killings

Pete Hegseth should be impeached for defying the War Powers Resolution

Investigating Sen. Mark Kelly over his criticism of military orders was an abuse of Pentagon power