More Republicans are embracing the idea of targeted bombing in Mexico to stop the fentanyl crisis in the United States, according to a new report Monday.
The idea began gaining traction after former President Donald Trump started talking about sending "special forces" and using "cyberwarfare" to target cartel leaders, Politico reports.
Rolling Stone reported late last month that Trump asked for "battle plans" to striking Mexico.
The pressure started in January, when GOP Reps. Dan Crenshaw of Texas and Mike Waltz of Florida introduced a bill seeking authorization for the use of military force to "put us at war with the cartels."
According to Politico, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., now says he's open to sending U.S. troops into Mexico to target drug lords — even without that nation's permission.
Republican senators have already filed a bill to designate drug cartels as terrorist organizations, UPI reported, and Republican House members have done the same.
"We need to start thinking about these groups more like ISIS than we do the mafia," Waltz, a former Green Beret, told Politico.
Nearly 71,000 Americans died in 2021 from fentanyl overdoses, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, reported.
The Drug Enforcement Agency said last year "most" of the fentanyl distributed by two cartels "is being mass-produced at secret factories in Mexico with chemicals sourced largely from China."
President Joe Biden isn't behind the drastic stance, and instead has issued executive orders expanding law enforcement authorities to target transnational organizations.
Gen. Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs chair, said in a March interview with Defense One that invading Mexico was a bad idea. "I wouldn't recommend anything be done without Mexico's support," he said, insisting it's a law enforcement issue.
As president, Trump considered placing cartels on the State Department's terrorist blacklist. He also asked about using missiles to take out drug labs and cartels in Mexico, former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has said, but backed away from the move over legal complications, The New York Times reported.
He's since revived the idea.
"People talk about the people that are pouring in," Trump said at a rally in Waco, Texas, Politico noted. "But the drugs that are pouring into our country, killing everybody, killing so many people — there's no army that could ever do damage to us like that still."
Asa Hutchinson, the former Arkansas governor who is among the more moderate foreign policy voices in the party, supports the foreign terrorist organization label for the cartels. "They meet the definition," he said weeks before announcing his 2024 White House bid, Politico reported.
Waltz, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, noted Colombia's government was initially resistant to the idea of U.S. military support, and told Politico, "It was only once we delivered some tough messages that they started to shift."
"The worst thing we can do is continue to do nothing," Waltz added.
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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