The drug war in our hemisphere is evolving; under the Trump administration, America is no longer chasing smugglers; it's hunting them.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made it clear that he has the administration's support:
U.S. Defense (War) Secretary Pete Hegseth said he has every authorization needed for U.S. military strikes on vessels just off the coast of Venezuela allegedly carrying illegal drugs.
Hegseth was speaking in a Fox News interview broadcast on Sunday. The United States killed four people in a strike in the Caribbean Sea on Friday, at least the fourth such attack in recent weeks.
"We have every authorization needed. These are designated as foreign terrorist organizations," Hegseth said in an interview on Fox News' "The Sunday Briefing."
Hegseth backed up his rhetoric with the recent engagements U.S. forces carried out. American forces have destroyed multiple boats in recent weeks in the Southern Caribbean, targeting boats carrying fentanyl and cocaine into U.S. markets. An October 3 strike killed four people aboard a narco-terrorist ship.
President Donald Trump frames the fight as a war, not just law enforcement, telling Congress the U.S. is in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels and recognizing them as enemy combatants.
Trump's declaration means cartel members are no longer treated as "soft criminals," but are adversaries in conflict.
That's a critical distinction, because in past administrations, the combination of weak rules and measured restraint provided gaps cartels exploited.
In something I believe is long overdue, we have a president who doesn't provide sanctuary in international waters for ships carrying poison. Hegseth argues this action rests on the constitutional commander-in-chief's power, counterterrorism, and the right to self-defense.
Speakers tuned into a left-wing coffee klatch will be drowned out by the screams and howls of each left-wing individual with a keyboard, microphone, and camera, banging on about legality and due process.
As loudly and often as they'll scream, the one thing they will never acknowledge is the number of American lives owed to their debate.
In case they need a reminder of why the status quo failed, every syringe, overdosed child, and the tens of thousands killed by fentanyl should pop the bubble of reality they've lived in.
U.S. Naval and air asset sorties have surged in the Caribbean, off the coast of Venezuela, including destroyers, submarines, F-35s, drones, and applicable intelligence platforms. This is a determined look, while sending a clear message: make different life choices, or you'll discover the phrase, "Warheads on Foreheads."
Like all little tyrants, Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, excels in rattling his sabers, declaring "maximum preparedness," warning of consequences, and mobilizing local militias. It's this creative writing that's now forced to stare down America's new resolve.
Like every international action President Trump makes, expect diplomatic blowback from the usual suspect: Russia. The Kremlin condemned the October 3 strike, warning of escalation, but the Trump administration counts on action to generate a clear message of deterrence, not endless debates with carefully crafted diplomatic sentences.
There's also a financial strategy at play: U.S. officials are making no distinction between Venezuela's regime and cartels like the Cartel de los Soles, the funds from which pay for military loyalty and suppressing dissent.
One good thing about this information age is that it provides us with aspects of conflicts that our parents and grandparents never had the chance to witness: A clear example where illicit infrastructure is deliberately targeted, sending a beautiful Hallmark card from War Secretary Hegseth, with his best regards.
The United States is baring its teeth by making the Caribbean a contested airspace, causing traffickers to think twice.
The left is already barking about "sovereignty" or "executive overreach," where we have a simple response: exporting death to American soil forfeits any diplomatic immunity.
Despite the elites catching the vapors over such terrible umbrage, President Trump is proving that deterrence still works. There are times when it's necessary to hit someone back, first.
In remarkable developments, we're seeing a shocked reaction from Venezuela's shadow networks as they witness something they never imagined: an American president willing to strike first... and hard.
The legacy press will frame these strikes as “provocative” or “illegal” because that’s how they’ve always tried to hamstring Republican presidents who project strength. Like Jefferson against the Barbary pirates, Trump now faces a similar challenge in the Caribbean. But readers like you deserve the complete story, unfiltered and unvarnished, with the context that corporate media often ignores.
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