The Left is in full meltdown over the airstrikes on narco-terrorists in the Caribbean. Democrats are even floating impeachment proceedings against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. The selective outrage is astonishing. The memory-holing is even worse.
Where were these same voices when Barack Obama carried out roughly 500 drone strikes, killing civilians in the process? Where was the concern when American citizens ended up on Obama’s kill list — the so-called “Disposition Matrix”? Not a peep. No hand-wringing. No primetime lectures about legality or morality.
So spare us the sanctimony. The Left had zero problem with lethal force when their guy was the one pulling the trigger. Their outrage now isn’t about principle — it’s about disgusting, sickening politics as Democrats show support for narco-runners killing a hundred thousand Americans a year instead of their citizen constituents.
Operation Southern Spear is once again generating controversy after reports emerged that a narco-terrorist boat was hit with two airstrikes. The second strike eliminated several terrorists who survived the first blast — not because they were clinging to debris, but because they were attempting to reboard the wreckage and signal for rescue. These were active combatants re-engaging in the fight. The mission was simple: neutralize the threat. And that’s exactly what happened.
Predictably, the media rushed to smear Secretary of War Pete Hegseth as a “war criminal,” despite the fact that these strikes were thoroughly vetted by both civilian and military legal teams. But there’s an angle here the Left — blinded by Trump Derangement Syndrome — either can’t grasp or refuses to acknowledge.
A former Trump administration Navy lawyer spelled it out to RedState, and his explanation delivered the kill shot to the Left’s entire war-crimes narrative. In short: the strikes were lawful, justified, and by the book. The only thing outrageous here is the media pretending otherwise:
As Democrats escalate their attacks in the wake of Capitol Hill briefings by U.S. Special Operations Command commander Admiral Frank M. Bradley, prominent military defense attorney and former Trump Navy lawyer Tim Parlatore told RedState that politicians are deliberately mischaracterizing lawful combat actions. In an exclusive interview, Parlatore laid out the legal distinction at the heart of the controversy…
“You have a boat full of cocaine and terrorists heading to this country to poison and kill Americans. That’s a legitimate target.” Parlatore said. “You then do battle damage assessment. The boat and the cargo remain legitimate military targets that SOUTHCOM has been ordered to put on the bottom of the ocean.” Parlatore referred to the death of drug traffickers resulting from the second strike as “collateral damage.” The comments contrast statements made on Wednesday by top Democrats immediately after viewing classified drone footage. Democrat Rep. Jim Himes (CT-4) called the video “one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.”
When speaking with RedState, Parlatore drew a direct historical parallel to drive the point home, citing one of the most celebrated moments in U.S. Navy history.
“Take the Battle of Midway. One of the Japanese carriers we blew up was burning, dead in the water, no longer able to fight or launch aircraft, and it was full of wounded Japanese sailors. You know what we did? We kept throwing torpedoes into it until it went to the bottom of the ocean. And that was lawful. The goal was to put the ship down so it couldn’t be towed back, repaired, and put back into the fight. The goal was not to kill all the wounded Japanese sailors on board,” he said.
Parlatore explained that the Navy’s own history makes this clear: sinking a disabled enemy vessel — even one carrying wounded personnel — has been standard naval practice for generations. It’s fully consistent with the law of armed conflict at sea.
The operation is ongoing, by the way. We destroyed another drug boat this week during the spectacle known as ‘boatgate’ created by the media. Democrats and their propagandists in ‘the media’ continuing to provide cover for narco-terrorist smugglers killing Americans is beyond disgraceful.
