The War Department’s inspector general announced a review of whether the U.S. military’s strikes against suspected drug smugglers in the Caribbean followed the required targeting process.Last September, the Pentagon began what it dubbed Operation Southern Spear, and since its origin, U.S. Southern Command has targeted nearly 60 small boats in the Caribbean Sea or eastern Pacific Ocean that it says were attempting to smuggle drugs into the country, killing nearly 200 people in those strikes.Specifically, the objective of the review is “to determine whether DoW components followed the established framework of the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle,” according to a May 11 letter from Bryan T. Clark, assistant inspector general for evaluations programs, combatant commands and operations in a May 11 memo to Gen. Francis Donovan, the leader of U.S. Southern Command, and Bradley Hansell, undersecretary for intelligence and security.
The six phases are the commander’s intent, the development of each target, the analysis and intelligence surrounding each one, the decision to hit it, planning and execution, and assessment, NBC News reported, citing a U.S. official.
This evaluation was self-initiated and not done at the request of Congress.
