Pentagon watchdog to evaluate U.S. military's boat strikes in Latin America

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon watchdog will evaluate whether the U.S. military followed an established targeting framework when carrying out attacks on dozens of alleged drug-smuggling boats that have killed nearly 200 people in Latin American waters since early September.

READ MORE: A timeline of U.S. military escalation against Venezuela leading to Maduro's capture

The evaluation will focus specifically on what's known as the six-phase Joint Targeting Cycle, according to a May 11 letter to Defense Department officials. The phases include a military commander's intent, target development, analysis, decision, execution and assessment.

The Pentagon inspector general's office said in a statement Tuesday that the review was "self-initiated" and that it would not provide a timeline for when it would be completed. It was reported earlier by Bloomberg.

The evaluation will not probe the legality of the strikes, which have drawn intense scrutiny from some Democratic lawmakers and military legal scholars. The Trump administration says the U.S. is at war against the Latin American drug cartels, which it says are responsible for the scourge of fatal drug overdoses plaguing many American communities.

READ MORE: All the U.S. military strikes against alleged drug boats

The administration's campaign of blowing up small boats accused of drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea has persisted since early September and killed at least 193 people in total. U.S. Southern Command said one person survived the latest attack on May 8, but it is not clear if the Coast Guard was able to find and rescue the survivor, which would raise the death toll.

The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs, repeatedly pointing in social media posts to intelligence confirming they were "transiting along known narco-trafficking routes."

The U.S. military's first strike in early September drew particular concern from some lawmakers and those who study military law. Two men on the boat initially survived the attack that killed nine others, and they were clinging to the wreckage when the vessel was struck again, killing them.

Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said in December that the survivors were "basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water — until the missiles come and kill them."

The White House confirmed the follow-up strike, insisting it was done "in self-defense" to ensure the boat was destroyed and in accordance with the laws of armed conflict.