Senator Paul blindsides Vance over cartel bombing

When Trump took office, he declared cartels and drug gangs as terrorists, a move that would enable him to engage these groups with the military if he deemed it necessary.

Well, he did, and when the media accused the administration of war crimes, the response by JD Vance did not sit well with Senator Rand Paul (R-KY).

Changing the game

Trump’s executive order titled “Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations And Specially Designated Global Terrorists” was a game-changer on this front.

Honestly, I was rather shocked that Democrats did not fight the order harder, but the order stood, and last week, Trump approved the first military attack against these drug runners.

A boat that was allegedly being operated by TdA gang members was blown out of the water.

Defense Secretary Hegseth put everyone on notice that anyone "trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco terrorist” would be dealt with in kind.

Vance creates a stir

After the attack was reported, Vance decided to poke the bear, posting, “Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military.”

A liberal journalist, Brian Krassenstein, responded to Vance’s post, saying that the missile attack on the boat met the criteria of a “war crime.”

Vance angrily shot back, “I don’t give a s*** what you call it.”

That is an out-of-character response by Vance, as he is usually very tempered in his responses. What surprised me was the reaction by some Republicans, most notably Senator Rand Paul.

Taking exception

Paul took exception to Vance’s comments, responding, "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??”

He continued, "What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial."

I understand why Paul is upset, but I just don’t agree with him on this front.

I have been waiting for a long time for the United States to take the gloves off in this battle, and I strongly agree with Trump's designation of these groups as terrorists and using the military to go after them. If they are terrorists, the military case would be used, so, no, I would not classify this as a war crime, and like Vance, I really don’t care what that journalist thinks about it.