The NPR Politics Podcast Trump Calls Cartels Terrorists. Is That Enough To Go To War?
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Oct 13, 2025 
John Yoo, a law professor and former Bush administration lawyer, dives into the complex world of U.S. military engagement with drug cartels, invoking post-9/11 legal frameworks. He argues that labeling cartels as terrorists oversimplifies their profit-driven motives, contrasting them with ideological groups like al-Qaeda. Yoo emphasizes the crucial need for congressional authorization for any military action against these cartels, questioning whether the staggering overdose deaths justify framing this as a war.
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War Versus Crime Distinction
- The Constitution and laws draw a clear legal distinction between war and crime with different procedural protections.
- War lets the government kill or detain enemies without criminal trial, unlike ordinary criminal prosecutions.
Harm Alone Doesn't Make War
- High casualty or social harm from a phenomenon doesn't automatically make it a war.
- Yoo argues war requires a foreign entity using political force, not criminal profit motives.
Political Motive As A War Threshold
- Yoo compares terrorist groups to foreign states because they use political violence against the U.S.
- He says drug cartels fail that test because they primarily seek profit, not political control.