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SOUTHCOM defends 'Operation Southern Spear' reductions as lawmakers press for casualty and legal details
Summary
Leaders of US Southern Command told the House Armed Services Committee that partner‑led operations and maritime strikes have reduced vessel movements and opioid flows, while members demanded post‑strike investigations, casualty names and clarity on whether targeting is status‑ or action‑based.
Assistant Secretary Joseph Humay and US Southern Command commander Gen. Francis Donovan defended a year‑old campaign against narcotics networks in the Western Hemisphere but faced repeated questions from lawmakers about casualty counts, legal authority and post‑strike accountability.
Humay told the committee that the department has shifted to a partner‑led approach and credited Operation Southern Spear with lower maritime traffic and drug flows, saying, “Operation Southern Spear is saving American lives.” He repeated figures he linked to the operation—reductions in vessel movements in the Eastern Caribbean and Eastern Pacific and a claimed drop in fentanyl flows—while acknowledging some measurements are taken at the level of vessel activity rather than direct measures of drugs…
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