PrairiePundit

  Military Times: President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a “non-international armed conflict,” according to a Trump administration memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, after recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean. A person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly said the Congress was notified about the designation by Pentagon officials on Wednesday. The move comes after the U.S. military last month carried out three deadly strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean. At least two of those operations were carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela. ... The first military strike, carried out on Sept. 2, on what the Trump administration said was a drug-carrying speedboat, killed 11 people. Trump claimed the boat was operated by the Tren de Aragua gang, which was listed by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year. ... ...

 Fedealist Wire: ... In a bold display of American resolve, President Donald Trump ordered the destruction of another suspected drug-smuggling boat in the Caribbean on Friday morning, obliterating a vessel laden with poisons destined for U.S. streets and sending a clear message to transnational criminals preying on American families. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth released footage of the precision hit on the “narco-terrorists,” affirming U.S. intelligence’s ironclad verification of the threat. This marks the fourth such operation under Trump’s command. “Four male narco-terrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike, and no U.S. forces were harmed in the operation. The strike was conducted in international waters just off the coast of Venezuela while the vessel was transporting substantial amounts of narcotics – headed to America to poison our people,” said Hegseth. “Our intelligence, without a doubt, confirmed that this vessel was trafficking narcotics, the people onboard we...