Brushing aside concerns of experts in the law of war, has declared the United States in a state of “non-international armed conflict” with Venezuelan drug cartels operating in the Caribbean, according to a confidential memo to Congress first obtained by the New York Times , and subsequently from numerous media outlets.

The memo provides the justification for treating suspected drug smugglers spotted on the high seas as “unlawful enemy combatants,” who can be killed on sight, instead of criminals subject to arrest and prosecution.

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