London’s decision, according to CNN in an article it calls its exclusive, represents a significant rift with its closest ally and partner in the exchange of intelligence and highlights growing skepticism about the legality of the US military campaign in Latin America.
A US strike has killed four people suspected of being drug smugglers in the eastern Pacific Ocean. #us #military #pacificocean #boat #petehegseth pic.twitter.com/kdZv6YmGSq
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For years, Britain, which governs a number of territories in the Caribbean where it also has intelligence assets, has helped the US locate ships suspected of carrying drugs so the US Coast Guard could intercept them, the sources said. This meant that the ships would be stopped, the crew arrested, and the drugs confiscated, reports Jutarnji list.
The intelligence would normally be sent to the Joint Interagency Task Force South, a task force based in Florida that includes representatives from a number of partner states and works to combat the illegal drug trade.
But shortly after the US began carrying out deadly attacks on ships in September, London expressed concern that the US could use British intelligence to select targets. British officials believe the US military strikes, which killed 76 people, violate international law, the sources said.
The suspension of intelligence sharing began more than a month ago, they added.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said last month that the attacks violated international law and amounted to “extrajudicial executions”. The United Kingdom agrees with that assessment, sources told CNN.
The British Embassy in Washington and the White House did not respond to requests for comment, and a Pentagon official said only that the department “does not comment on intelligence matters.”
Before the US military began destroying the ships in September, the fight against the illegal drug trade was the responsibility of law enforcement agencies and the US Coast Guard. Cartel members and drug traffickers were treated as criminals with a right to a fair trial, an approach that London fully agreed with, the sources said.
But the administration of US President Donald Trump claims that the US military can legally kill suspected smugglers because they pose an immediate threat to Americans and are “enemy combatants” who are in an “armed conflict” with the US, according to a memo the administration sent to Congress.
The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion, which is still classified, bolstering that argument, CNN reported, and Trump qualified a number of drug cartels as “foreign terrorist groups.” The White House has repeatedly said the administration’s actions are “fully consistent with the Law of Armed Conflict,” a part of international law designed to prevent attacks on civilians.
(Vijesti.ba)
