Vice President J.D. Vance has come under fire for his salty language and supposed lack of care for human life, the U.S. Constitution and international law after the U.S. military carried out an airstrike on a vessel in international waters, killing 11 suspected members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua cartel.

Vance is taking a cue from President Donald Trump when it comes to responses, but he's not wrong on the facts. The Trump administration stated the traffickers were positively identified and headed to smuggle drugs into the United States. For a nation that loses more than 100,000 citizens a year to fentanyl and related narcotics, the action appears both justified and overdue.

Vance defended the strike in blunt terms: “Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” he said. Critics, including Brian Krassenstein, responded: “Killing the citizens of another nation who are civilians without any due process is called a war crime.”

“I don’t give a s*** what you call it,” fired back Vance, prompting Republican Sen. Rand Paul to respond: “JD 'I don’t give a s***' Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the 'highest and best use of the military.' Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird? Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation??”

Paul never met a war he didn't not like. And while peace should always be the goal, it shouldn't come at the price of surrender.

Paul and his fellow doves should remember that Tren de Aragua was officially designated by the White House as a Foreign Terrorist Organization back in July. That designation changes the equation. These are not simply drug runners operating a business model we happen to disapprove of — they are transnational terrorists whose operations directly kill Americans, destabilize communities, and fund violence across the hemisphere. In that context, the strike looks less like vigilante justice and more like counter-terrorism.

No one is proposing to round up suspected dealers on Main Street and execute them without trial. This was a foreign-based terrorist network, operating on the high seas, and the U.S. took decisive action before poison reached our shores. America has every right to defend itself against such threats.

That said, Vance’s tone deserves some scrutiny. His point that the military is rightly used to protect Americans from external threats is solid. But his choice of words, and his open dismissal of critics, did not rise to the level of statesmanship expected from a vice president. Protecting the homeland requires strength, and strength includes minding one's words.

The larger lesson is clear: America cannot allow cartels, now formally recognized as terrorists, to operate with impunity. But we also need leaders who can defend strong policies without appearing cavalier about life and death. The strike was justified. But we must combine decisive action with America's long-standing moral authority.

A screengrab of the Venezuelan boat shortly before it was destroyed by U.S. forces (DoD image)