CIA assessing its powers to kill drug smugglers abroad: report

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

50% : That designation opened a trove of new options the White House can use to target the cartels, granting the administration access to "enhanced counterterrorism authorities" -- including the ability for Trump to launch covert operations.
43% : Additionally, there are roughly 4,000 troops deployed along the southern border -- an increase of about 1,500 since Trump took office in January.
42% : But Trump could usurp Congress and opt for the advantage of surprise by ordering the CIA to conduct covert actions against the cartels, using his powers under Title 50, according to the Atlantic Council.
38% : Talk of taking lethal action against drug cartels has heated up among Republicans in recent weeks after Trump declared, "It's time for America to wage war on the cartels" in his State of the Union-like address on March 4.
35% : "Trump has historically favored covert operations in counterterrorism efforts against al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), making this a more likely scenario," it added.
32% : "In this scenario, Trump would issue a presidential finding that authorizes the CIA to conduct covert actions against the cartels," the report said.
28% : The review -- which does not indicate that President Trump has ordered the CIA to kill drug smugglers -- is designed to "help the agency understand what kinds of activities it could legally undertake and what the potential risks would be across the suite of options," CNN reported Monday, citing an anonymous official and three people briefed on the matter.

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