Democratic senators in the Intelligence Committee are claiming they were not briefed on this week's attack against a Venezuelan vessel, which the Trump administration claims it's aimed at fighting drug-trafficking in the region.
Speaking to Axios, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly said that even though he believes stopping drugs from reaching U.S. soil is a "positive thing," President Donald Trump "will be gone at some point, and we should not put our service members in a position that they're doing things that are outside of legal boundaries."
Sen. Chris Coons, a senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, added that he didn't get a briefing either, calling the development "concerning." Republican Senator James Risch, in contrast, said that as a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee he was briefed on the strike
Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno, on his end, said he doesn't think Congress had to be notified in advance. "They were bringing drugs that were going to kill Americans, so we killed them first," he said. "We're going to be doing a lot more of that."
The statement echoes one made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the administration is "going to use the full power of America and the full might of the us to take on and eradicate these drug cartels no matter where they're operating from and no matter how long they've been able to act with impunity."
Tensions continued to escalate on Thursday night after two Venezuelan jets flew near a U.S. Navy ship, a move the Pentagon called "highly provocative" and "designated to interfere with our counter narco-terror operations."
"The cartel running Venezuela is strongly advised not to pursue any further effort to obstruct, deter or interfere with counter-narcotics and counter-terror operations carried out by the U.S. military," the department added.
The attack was questioned by Amnesty International, claiming there are "serious doubts about its legality."
"The U.S. must prove in each attack that it only employed intentional lethal force when strictly inevitable and seeking to protect life," said Daphne Eviatar, director of Security with Human Rights at the organization's U.S. chapter.
The U.S. is beefing up military presence in the region by reportedly deploying 10 fighter jets to a base in Puerto Rico to conduct operations against drug cartels in the region. Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters detailed that the jets should arrive in the area by late next week.
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