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Washington is finally treating the cartel threat like the national security emergency it is, and that has some on the left shrieking louder than the cartels themselves. The Biden years of weakness created the vacuum that these narco-terror networks exploited, so a robust military posture in the Caribbean and southern approaches is long overdue. Recent deployments of stealth fighters and other high-end platforms show the administration means business and Americans should applaud the return of deterrence.
When U.S. forces took lethal action against a suspected narco vessel in the southern Caribbean it was the kind of tough, surgical move the drug war has needed for decades. These were not abstract policy debates in a Washington think tank; lives are ruined and communities destroyed by drug flows that originate from these lawless maritime routes. The reality is blunt: sometimes removing a dangerous trafficker at sea is how you save American lives at home.
The Maduro regime predictably responded with bluster, announcing new patrols and a mobilization of thousands of troops to “combat trafficking,” which should not fool anyone paying attention. Caracas has long tolerated and in many cases collaborated with criminal networks that traffic cocaine and weapons across our hemisphere, and their showy naval drills are a sign of weakness, not strength. Venezuela’s public posturing cannot erase the documented links between illicit networks and elements of the Venezuelan security apparatus.
Conservative security experts like Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt have been blunt and right: if smugglers are armed and attempting to deliver lethal cargo to our shores, they should face decisive force. Holt’s “missile shot and goodbye” formulation is not bloodlust; it is clarity — criminals who operate like combatants must not be treated like harmless scofflaws. Former CIA operators and intelligence professionals also warn that cartels are increasingly paramilitary in capability and global in reach, which is exactly why limited, focused pressure is warranted now.
There are reports that covert intelligence operations are already in motion inside Venezuela, reflecting the gravity of the threat and the failure of softer tools to stop the trafficking headed for American communities. Those covert actions are controversial only to those who care more about process than results; when Mexican and American towns are drowning in fentanyl and heroin, debate without action equals complicity. Americans should demand both oversight and results from their government — but the first obligation of any administration is to protect its citizens.
Let us be clear: this is not an invitation to endless adventurism, but it is a call for clarity of purpose and muscular execution. Patriots should support lawful, targeted operations that dismantle cartel networks, interdict shipments, and cut off the cash flows that prop up corrupt regimes. If Washington wants votes and public confidence, it should fund law enforcement, shore up border security, and give our military and intelligence services the tools they need to finish the job.
To the lawmakers still squabbling over politics while drugs pour into our neighborhoods: act. Back the men and women in uniform, stop defending open borders and soft-on-crime policies, and hold rogue states and their criminal partners to account. Hardworking Americans deserve leaders who will defend them with conviction, not excuse the collapse of order with weak talking points.
