The Biden-era policy of treating drug cartels like criminal enterprises to be indulged rather than enemies to be defeated is over — and our military is finally treating the problem like the national-security crisis it is. Last night U.S. forces carried out the 22nd strike in a campaign targeting suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Eastern Pacific, a grim but necessary response to the cartel pipeline that sends poison into American communities. Critics will howl about body counts; hardworking Americans want traffickers stopped before they flood our towns with fentanyl and other deadly drugs.
Yes, the September 2 encounter that has become the center of debate is troubling to watch, and lawmakers were shown classified footage in closed-door briefings, but viewers should remember there are facts we still do not have in public. Adm. Frank Bradley and other senior officers have testified there was no blanket “kill them all” order from the Pentagon, and commanders on the scene were making split-second judgments in a chaotic maritime environment. The focus should be on the ruthless criminal networks that put military personnel in this position, not on reflexive political grandstanding by members of Congress.
Republican leaders and many who understand the tactical realities of interdiction rightly defended the strikes as lawful and necessary to cripple trafficking operations that imperil American lives. Senators like Tom Cotton described the series of strikes as “entirely lawful and needful,” highlighting that commanders acted to prevent a vessel reconstructed by traffickers from continuing its mission. If Washington wants drug interdiction to work, it must back the people doing the hard, dangerous work instead of reflexively undermining them.
That said, reasonable Americans can be both pro-military and pro-accountability; Democrats’ performative outrage should not translate into letting cartels operate with impunity. Several Democrats and legal experts have raised legitimate legal questions about attacking individuals who appear incapacitated, and Congress is right to ask for full oversight — but not if the goal is to score political points and hobble the mission. The administration should make appropriate information available to Congress under classified procedures while protecting operational security.
Make no mistake: the real scandal would be timidity in the face of a cross-border slaughter of our citizens via imported fentanyl. Cartels use sophisticated maritime networks to ferry deadly pills and precursors toward our shores, and if we refuse to disrupt that flow at sea we simply outsource the body-count to our hospitals and funeral homes. Lawmakers who invoke international law as a screen for inaction are offering no solutions to grieving families — only excuses for political posturing.
Patriots should demand two things: clear legal authority and unflinching support for our troops and commanders who risk their lives to stop the cartels. If Congress believes the rules of engagement or oversight need tightening, craft the law and fund the effort; do not handcuff the military while lecturing it from the safety of workday hearings. Let Washington show the same spine the American people expect — defeat the traffickers, protect the homeland, and stand with the men and women who carry out that mission.
