US: Five reasons why Trump’s anti-cartel military plan will fail

“President Trump has secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against certain Latin American drug cartels that his administration has deemed terrorist organizations,” the New York Times reported on August 8. “The order provides an official basis for the possibility of direct military operations at sea and on foreign soil against cartels.”

Using U.S. military force overseas against profit-seeking criminal organizations would be a grave mistake. If carried out in other nations’ territories without their governments’ consent, it would be considered a “breach of the peace” or an “act of aggression” under the UN Charter, or an “armed attack” under the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance. In Latin America and the Caribbean, where sensitivities about U.S. military intervention are strong and cut across the political spectrum, few would find claims of “self-defense” convincing, and relations could be set back for many years.

International norms, though, are far from the only reason why military interventions against organized crime would be grave mistakes. They don’t make sense either practically or strategically. Here are five reasons why.