Internal Report Shows the Military Always Wanted to Join the Drug War
An Obama-era Pentagon report called for “direct military action” in the drug war, presaging Trump’s brazen strikes on boats in the Caribbean.
A decade before President Donald Trump boasted of “hunting” alleged “narcoterrorists” on boats off the coast of Venezuela, the Defense Department was looking for new ways to get involved in the war on drugs.
researchers presented their findings, based on interviews with dozens of top drug traffickers incarcerated in the United States, on how to better disrupt transnational organized crime.
One top-line prescription: More “direct military action.” The report, which was obtained by The Intercept through a Freedom of Information Act request and has never previously been made public, provides a window into the inner workings of major drug-trafficking networks.
Author's summary: Pentagon sought direct military action in drug war.