Senator Rand Paul’s recent attack on President Trump’s strikes against alleged drug-running boats — bluntly framed as “we have no evidence” — has set off predictable fireworks in Washington. Paul is right to demand accountability when the government takes extraordinary actions, but his hand-wringing risks sounding softer on the cartels than on the millions of Americans ruined by fentanyl and meth. The American people want results, not lecture-hall hypotheticals from senators who forget the human cost of inaction.
Over the past two months the administration has authorized strikes in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific that, according to Pentagon announcements, targeted vessels allegedly linked to major narcotics traffickers. These operations are part of a broader campaign the White House says is necessary to choke off the supply lines that fuel our drug epidemic. Critics will chant “oversight” and “due process,” but we must not confuse caution with cowardice when American lives are at stake.
President Trump and his national security team have publicly framed these actions as part of a war on transnational narcoterrorism, arguing the cartels are killing Americans at home and deserve to be treated as a direct threat. The rhetoric is blunt because the problem is brutal: communities across the country have been devastated by substances trafficked across our borders and seas. Conservatives who believe in protecting life and liberty should applaud an administration willing to act where decades of timid policies have failed.
Still, Senator Paul’s central gripe — demanding proof before celebrating military force — touched a nerve among voters who distrust Washington secrecy. He warned that the administration has not publicly laid out the evidence linking every strike to cartel activity, and that point deserves to be addressed head-on by accountable leaders. But denouncing action while offering no viable alternative is a luxury working-class Americans cannot afford.
There are legitimate legal questions swirling in the aftermath, and even some Republicans in Congress have asked for clarity about authorities and rules of engagement. Washington’s debates about war powers and international law are important, and they’re best settled with sober facts rather than reflexive partisan grandstanding. The real failure would be allowing legal wrangling to become an excuse for inaction while the cartels flood our neighborhoods with poison.
If the administration wants full conservative support it should do two things: continue to take the fight to the traffickers, and simultaneously be more transparent with Congress and the public about the intelligence that guides these strikes. Americans overwhelmingly back a secure border and an end to the opioid slaughter, and transparency paired with decisive action will build the coalition needed to finish this fight. Complaining from the sidelines won’t stop the next overdose or the next mother’s funeral.
At the end of the day, patriots want protection, not platitudes. We should pressure leaders to show their work, but we must also back bold measures that actually reduce the flow of deadly drugs into our towns. Rand Paul’s call for evidence is a useful reminder that power needs constraints, but it should not be an excuse to hand victory to the cartels or to abandon citizens suffering at home. America needs results, courage, and accountability — and right now that means helping our commanders disrupt the smugglers who profit from our children’s deaths.
