Inside the Secret War: Senate Concern Over U.S. Military Strikes in the Caribbean

"Currently, the administration is waging a secret war against a secret list of unnamed groups that they will not tell us about. There have been four lethal strikes against [alleged Venezuelan narco-trafficking] boats in the Caribbean. The administration wrote us [the U.S. Senate] a letter...about what they were doing in September. They said they considered themselves to be in a 'non-international armed conflict' -- that means a war -- against a secret list of 'designated terrorist organizations.'"

"I received a briefing last week on the administration's strikes in the Caribbean. During that briefing, Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, from both sides of the aisle, asked a Senate-confirmed official whether the Department of Defense could produce a list of the organizations that are now considered terrorists by the United States. They said they could not provide that list."

The administration is waging covert military operations in the Caribbean against unnamed groups characterized as 'designated terrorist organizations' and has conducted at least four lethal strikes against alleged Venezuelan narco-trafficking boats. The administration informed the U.S. Senate in a September letter that it considers itself engaged in a 'non-international armed conflict' to justify the operations. Senate members, including Sen. Elissa Slotkin, received a briefing but were unable to obtain a list of the organizations now designated as terrorists because officials said the Department of Defense could not provide that list. A War Powers resolution to block the strikes failed 48-51, prompting bipartisan concern about transparency and domestic precedent for military use.

Read at The Cipher Brief