 "'We're just going to kill them': Trump says he will strike alleged drug traffickers without Congress approval")
US President Donald Trump has said that he will continue attacking alleged drug traffickers outside of the country despite Congress’s approval of officially declaring war.
“I’m not going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just doing to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We’re going to kill them, you know, they’re going to be like, dead,” Trump said.
Trump’s remarks came as he indicated that his administration would soon start targeting individuals identified as cartel members in countries such as Venezuela, while continuing operations against suspected drug vessels in international waters.
The president, however, said that he would notify Congress before launching any operation on “land”, but asserted that his plans would not face any pushback from lawmakers.
“We going to go. I don’t see any loss in going to Congress. We’re going to tell them what we’re going to do and I think they’ll probably like it, except for the radical left lunatics,” he added.
The deadly strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have unsettled some lawmakers, who note that the administration has provided little evidence to show the targets were actual narco-terrorists.
Trump to hit Venezuelan land?
Last week, the president indicated that he is considering striking the Venezuelan land to target drug cartels, potentially expanding the military activity beyond the seas.
“We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked if he was weighing strikes on land. His comments triggered outrage and orders for large-scale military exercises from his counterpart, Nicolas Maduro.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsTrump said he had authorised covert CIA action against Venezuela and said he was considering strikes against alleged drug cartels on land in the South American country.
Republican Trump declined to comment in detail about a New York Times report that he had secretly approved the CIA to conduct covert action in Venezuela against Maduro.
“But I authorized for two reasons really,” he said, before listing familiar talking points accusing Maduro of leading a “narco-terrorist” regime and of releasing prisoners from jails and sending them to the United States.
‘No crazy war, please’
Maduro on Thursday launched a plea in English as tensions mount between Washington and Caracas: “No crazy war, please!”
“Yes peace, yes peace forever, peace forever. No crazy war, please!” Maduro said in a meeting with unions aligned with the leftist leader, a former bus driver and union leader.
The United States has deployed stealth warplanes and Navy ships as part of what it calls anti-narcotics efforts, but has yet to release evidence that its targets – eight boats and a semi-submersible – were smuggling drugs.
With inputs from agencies
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