President Donald Trump is escalating efforts to disrupt Venezuelan drug trafficking operations but preparing for targeted military strikes, not a ground invasion, former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz told Newsmax on Sunday.
"There likely will be airstrikes against drug labs and other facilities being used to send drugs to the United States," Fleitz told Newsmax's "Sunday Agenda."
He added that it's clear Trump has "doubled down on his efforts to stop illegal drugs from coming from Venezuela, the flow of illegal gangs, and the influence of Venezuela in the Southern Hemisphere."
Fleitz insisted, doubling down on comments he made on Newsmax on Saturday, that "President Trump is not planning on invading Venezuela. That's not going to happen."
He added that removing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is not an official goal of the mission.
"Regime change has never been part of America First for President Trump," Fleitz said.
The reaction from Democrats, he said, ignores years of similar actions under past administrations.
When asked about criticism from Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., that the recent strikes on suspected drug-runner boats were unlawful, Fleitz pushed back.
"I don't remember Mark Kelly saying that when Barack Obama fired hundreds of drones against suspected terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan," he said. "Presidents take actions like this to defend our borders, to defend our people."
Fleitz also dismissed claims by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., that the strikes against the suspected drug boats are a potential war crime.
"I think sending cocaine to this country is a war crime," Fleitz said, noting that traffickers have used ships and even homemade submarines to evade detection.
"Trump is just determined to stop it," he added.
He highlighted reporting in The Wall Street Journal detailing how cartels are paid about $100,000 per shipment, with heavily trafficked routes moving drugs through the Pacific and Atlantic, including from Venezuela and Colombia.
"They have to be stopped, and that's what President Trump is going to do," he said.
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