When President Trump ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group into the Caribbean to combat narco-terror networks, the world took notice. The decision—backed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—wasn’t just a routine show of force. It was a declaration that America will no longer tolerate cartels poisoning our children, destabilizing our neighbors, and infiltrating our shores.

It’s about time.

For decades, drug trafficking has been treated like a law enforcement nuisance instead of the national-security crisis it truly is. Fentanyl, cocaine, meth: all of it fuels death in our cities and despair in our families. As Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” The drug epidemic is sin multiplied by profit and soaked in blood. It’s not just crime; it’s evil. And sometimes, evil must be confronted with strength, not sympathy.

So yes, sending a carrier strike group to the region sends a powerful message: the United States will not sit idly while narco-terrorists treat our hemisphere like their playground. The left may call it “escalation,” but to many Americans, it looks more like defense: finally taking the gloves off after decades of bureaucratic handwringing and “coalition-building” that accomplished little beyond funding new marble embassies.

Still, even righteous causes need righteous conduct. There’s a line between authority and arrogance and between justice and vengeance. If U.S. strikes have taken lives at sea, we must ensure those targets were truly combatants and not collateral damage. Romans 13 reminds us that government “beareth not the sword in vain,” but that sword must always serve the good and not simply the powerful.

There are also bigger strategic questions. Deploying the Ford—our most advanced and expensive carrier—against smugglers might seem like using a sledgehammer to swat mosquitoes. Is this part of a longer campaign to secure the region, or simply a political show of might? And if Venezuela’s regime keeps turning a blind eye to the drug routes within its borders, will the U.S. expand the mission inland? History tells us that once boots touch another nation’s soil, wars have a way of starting themselves.

But here’s the larger truth: America has spent too long apologizing for its own strength. Under President Trump, we’re seeing a return to deterrence, the idea that peace comes from power, not from polite press releases. A strong America keeps the peace; a weak America invites chaos. And if the choice is between acting boldly or allowing cartels to keep flooding our streets with poison, I’ll take the carrier every time.

The Bible teaches both justice and mercy. Justice means confronting evil. Mercy means remembering that even those ensnared in the drug trade are still souls in need of redemption. So, as I support these operations, I also pray for our servicemen, for the innocent caught in the crossfire, and yes, even for the traffickers who might yet find salvation if they turn from their wicked ways.

In short: use the sword but wield it righteously. America can—and must—defend her people while keeping her conscience. If this new operation in the Caribbean restores deterrence, saves lives, and reclaims control of our hemisphere, then history will judge it as a turning point, one where the world’s most powerful nation finally remembered what power is for.