Terrorism Confusion in Caribbean

If there is one issue that has sown confusion into the commentary about President Trump’s missile strikes off the coasts of South and Central America, it is terrorism. I’m going to try to clarify that confusion.

Because I want to take head-on the central complication — namely, the question of what legal authority, if any, the status of “terrorist” gives a president to use military force — I am not going to get diverted by the more rudimentary problems that narcotics trafficking is not terrorist activity, and therefore that the Trump administration’s designation of Latin American drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) is untenable. (I’ve discussed these issues a number of times, see, e.g., here and here). For today’s purposes, I am assuming for argument’s sake that the FTO designations are legitimate.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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If there is one issue that has sown confusion into the commentary about President Trump’s missile strikes off the coasts of South and Central America, it is terrorism. I’m going to try to clarify that confusion.

Because I want to take head-on the central complication — namely, the question of what legal authority, if any, the status of “terrorist” gives a president to use military force — I am not going to get diverted by the more rudimentary problems that narcotics trafficking is not terrorist activity, and therefore that the Trump administration’s designation of Latin American drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) is untenable. (I’ve discussed these issues a number of times, see, e.g., here and here). For today’s purposes, I am assuming for argument’s sake that the FTO designations are legitimate.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.