In the last few years the Drug
Enforcement Agency, or D.E.A has been taking a new step on the war on
drugs. During the War on Terror, the D.E.A formed groups of commandos
that are called Foreign-deployed Advisory Support Team, or FAST for
short. These commando teams are tasked with the interdiction and
destruction of drugs, specifically those that support terrorism.
This is a noble goal, but since 2008
the FAST teams have been taking on expanded missions, that are no
longer under the purview of aiding the war efforts. Lately, there
have been reports of five of these commando units taking actions in
the western hemisphere. Cases have been brought up from major drug
capitols, such as Honduras and Guatemala, that describe how these
shadow forces have started helping combat the war on drugs closer to
home. This identifies a major shift and the blurring of the war on
“terror” with the war on “drugs”. These units are working
with the governments to combat cartel involvement and the expansion
of the drug trade, where the D.E.A have traditionally been less
aggressive in direct aid.
Having this shift creates both
beneficial and problematic instances when referring to national
security and international policy. The benefits are widespread, and
useful for American security. Many cases exist where the interdiction
of American troops are necessary for the missions to succeed. Many of
these countries, in the western hemisphere, are poor and
under-trained to deal with these highly funded cartel organizations.
By having the support of trained troops, there is more incentive to
actually try to stop the drug trafficking. Along with this, there are
more aggressive missions that are available with direct U.S support.
For one, there is less chance for corruption or bribery; thereby
allowing for greater chances to actually surprise the cartels.
While all of these points are the
benefits of deploying elite D.E.A. forces into these countries, there
are also a number of things that must be considered. Firstly, the
political backlash of both the host country and America. There are
many ways this could come about, but the major reason for this fear
would be that the American government would be hesitant to lose the
public support of having any of these American citizens killed on
foreign soil. With the fear of public reprisal requiring a reduction
in direct, paramilitary aid comes the fear that this would damage the
apparent hegemony America sports in the western hemisphere. Having
this reduction in aid would signal a weakness to the other countries
that could drastically America's reputation and power on the world
stage. If Congress is going to allow the D.E.A are going to continue
using these elite commandos, then they must be prepared to continue
using them even after the loss of a number of these individuals.
There must be a show of continuity and strength, rather than an
apparent weakness after the loss of a small number of individuals.
This could lead to more attacks from these cartels, or other nations,
hoping to weaken American involvement through loss of life.
Sources:
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