War on drugs shouldn't be the army's fight

The White House is delighting in videos of the US Navy blowing up alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. If the administration wants to make real progress in the war on drugs, however, the military shouldn't lead this fight.

- 

The flotilla now deployed off the coast of Venezuela is formidable: It includes three destroyers, a guided-missile cruiser, a fast-attack nuclear submarine and three amphibious ships, carrying 2,200 Marines; F-35 fighters and MQ-9 Reaper drones are based in nearby Puerto Rico. The stated goal is to disrupt the flow of illegal drugs through the Caribbean into the US and to deter Venezuelan traffickers, according to the Tribune News Service.

But the administration evidently has more ambitious plans. Media reports suggest the forthcoming National Defense Strategy will elevate the battle against cartels to a top national-security priority, while the president recently vowed to go after traffickers on land, "stopping them the same way we stopped the boats." The implication seems to be that the U.S. is considering strikes on foreign soil as well as in international waters. One congressman is reportedly floating a proposal that would authorize armed action against anyone deemed a "narcoterrorist" and the nations harboring them.