Dear Editor:
Life in these United States is getting even more complicated.
This nation was founded on a Constitution from which LAWS were written over time, with the idea that the law would apply equally to ALL. Whatever the law allows, or requires ONE to do, we ALL must likewise comply.
Take the issue of illegal drugs. They’re BAD, everyone can agree. It’s also true, “somebody should do something.” In truth, there are a great many laws on the books dealing with all the aspects of the illegal drug “trade.” There’s production, transport, wholesale, retail (street sales), addictive use, casual use, and at the top of it all, Cartels.
For decades, this nation has been fighting a “WAR on DRUGS.” Since drugs are not an actual nation, or a country that war can be declared upon, our war on drugs has been rhetorical, or metaphorical. The war on drugs has been waged by law enforcement following the laws of our nation, while protecting the Constitutional rights of all individuals.
Today, in the Trump Administration, we hear that this is an ACTUAL “WAR,” with combatants, two clear sides of good guys and bad guys, and with our military fully engaged. Only one side wears uniforms … ours … and according to the rules of war, a combatant not wearing a uniform can be considered a spy, and can be executed as such; this is one good reason to have a WAR formally declared by Congress, under our Constitution.
In addition, the rules of this war (often called ‘rules of engagement’) are different than ever before. In this new war, transporting drugs is a “shoot on sight,” capital crime. Those engaging in the practice can just be killed without warning. This, according to the Trump Administration.
Further, any idea of “due process” has been dispensed with; we just have to “take the word” of our military and leaders that the people they are killing are “narco terrorists.” Of course, blowing ships out of the water doesn’t give the opportunity to gather proof, or to gather intelligence from captives, or to positively identify bodies. There’s nothing left to check the veracity of claims made.
Of course, the military under Trump are carrying out this “new” rule of engagement in international waters far from our shores. But, this is where it gets complicated: We have every phase of the illegal drug trade taking place within our nation. There are dealers and wholesalers and gangs and users coast to coast.
Is it now a capital offense (shoot on sight) for people in the drug trade, as a matter of law? Remember, our laws apply EVERYWHERE under our nation’s jurisdiction.
So, does this just apply to transporters, or can anyone in the chain of illegal drug delivery be targeted for death? If it’s suspected a UPS driver has a package of drugs on board, can we just blow his truck up with him in it? Can we kill suspected drug people without bothering to gather proof of their crimes? Can we simply destroy all potential proof, and just expect our word to be taken that they were “bad” people and “Narco Terrorists”?
Will the military being deployed to our cities have the same rules of engagement now being used by our Navy, or will they be different? Why WOULD they be different? A war on drugs must be waged wherever drugs are found, right? We need to know, because, if we’re imaginative, we can see “kill on sight” drug criminals nearly everywhere, and something should be done! And hopefully, without any consequence to ourselves, should we be mistaken from time to time about our targets.
Jeff Harrison
Buffalo TX
