By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
Because of my personal concerns about the deaths of nearly 100 alleged “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean, I turned to Gemini, Google’s version of artificial intelligence, for help in understanding the legal ramifications.
As a military retiree myself, I am strongly committed to national defense and the guarantee outlined in the U.S. Constitution for us as a nation to defend ourselves “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
However, there are serious questions about whether we might be violating our own federal law, as well as international law, since changing our anti-drug smuggling efforts in that part of the world from a law enforcement mission of the U.S. Coast Guard and the DEA to a full blown military campaign called “Operation Southern Spear.”
Granted, we have the world’s attention with lethal military airstrikes that make quick work of small boats suspected of bringing illegal drugs to our shores.
Gemini’s research says the question of whether or not these actions constitute “war crimes” depends on the legal classification of the conflict and the specific conduct of the operations.
Technically, “war crimes” can only occur during an armed conflict. The Trump Administration currently designates specific cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and “narco-terrorists,” thereby framing these operations as a conflict subject to the laws of war.
However, most international legal experts and the UN argue that drug interdiction is a law enforcement matter, not a war. Under law enforcement standards, lethal force is only legal when there is an imminent threat to life. If no declared war exists, these actions are not “war crimes” but extrajudicial executions, a serious violation of International Human Rights Law.
As the brother, nephew and friend of several former American sailors, two of whom were shipwrecked in combat, I am horrified by the apparent killing of helpless survivors in the water.
Under the Geneva Conventions, shipwrecked combatants are “hors de combat” (out of the fight) and intentionally killing them is a textbook war crime. Moreover, international law also requires that civilians be distinguished from combatants. That surely is not the case if fishing boat crewmen are being forced to be smugglers.
My own family has been touched by the drug epidemic and I want all such evildoers to be severely punished. However, I am opposed to ordering American service members to commit what could be murder, even if it means not keeping someone’s campaign promise.
Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com.
