Pentagon spokesman Sean ParnellToday the Pentagon confirmed my reporting from yesterday that the military is preparing for strikes on cartels operating in Mexico. The Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell, a Trump appointee, was pressured to respond to the story after other reporters asked about its veracity. Another statement attributed to an unnamed Defense Department spokesperson said simply: “The Department of Defense will not comment on future operations considering operational security.”Future operations? “The Defense Department declined to comment on the new directive,” the Pentagon told NYT. The whole point of this work, to me, is to have an impact on the public debate and ultimately policy.