The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel stated in a classified opinion that personnel taking part in military strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats in Latin America would not be exposed to future prosecution, according to four people familiar with the matter.
The decision to pursue an opinion, drafted in July, reflects the heightened concerns within the government raised by senior civilian and military lawyers that such strikes would be illegal.
The strikes, now totaling 19 and with a death toll of 76, began in September, though interagency discussions regarding the use of lethal force to combat drug cartels started early in the Trump administration.
Top officers, including Adm. Alvin Holsey, the head of Southern Command, sought caution on such strikes, according to two people, who like several others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.
Holsey wanted to make sure any option presented to the president was fully vetted first, one person said. In October, he abruptly announced he was resigning at year’s end, which will be about a year into what is typically a three-year assignment.
A Pentagon spokesman, Sean Parnell, has previously denied that Holsey had
DOJ memo: US troops not liable for boat attacks
