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Senator John Kennedy didn’t mince words on Fox News when he defended the Trump administration’s account of recent boat strikes, calling the critics a “masterclass dumb” reaction and praising the intelligence behind the operations as “exquisitely good.” His blunt assessment should remind Americans that not every demand for instant disclosure is rooted in principle — some are naked political theater aimed at hobbling decisive action against the cartels.
The strikes themselves are no fairy tale; since September the United States has carried out a series of kinetic actions against vessels the administration says were operated by narcoterrorists, expanding from the Caribbean into the Eastern Pacific as part of a broader campaign to choke cartel smuggling routes. These are dangerous, organized criminal enterprises that traffic poison into our neighborhoods, fund violence, and operate with impunity when left unchecked.
Washington’s demand for the full release of operational video is understandable for those who distrust their government, but it also reveals a terrifying willingness among opponents of law and order to weaponize transparency for partisan advantage. Operational footage can endanger sources, reveal tactics, and put American lives at risk if published for theater rather than shown responsibly to oversight authorities.
Yes, there have been uncomfortable questions raised by some outlets about survivors and follow-up strikes, and those allegations deserve sober legal review rather than headline-hungry denunciations. But the left’s reflex is predictable: take any complex military decision, blow it up into an atrocity narrative, and demand resignations before facts are examined — a tactic that betrays more about the accusers than the accused.
We should be clear-eyed about what’s at stake. Cartels are not charitable NGOs; they are criminal armies whose trade in fentanyl and heroin destroys American families and fuels border chaos. A President who uses the tools of statecraft and military power to disrupt those supply chains is defending the homeland, and lawmakers who reflexively side with sensational press cycles over public safety are failing their constituents.
Media elites and sanctimonious lawmakers who clamor for full public spectacle are doing the cartels’ work for them by constraining our ability to respond intelligently and swiftly. Conservatives should demand accountability through classified oversight channels and hearings where evidence can be weighed without leaking operational details to enemies of the United States.
At the end of the day, hardworking Americans want one thing from their government: safety. If that requires the administration and military to move decisively, with robust oversight and legal grounding, then Republicans ought to stand united behind our commanders and against sanctimony. Congress should back transparent but secure review, not grandstanding that plays into the hands of the cartels and the media mobs.
