By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2025-04-01 19:45:08 | Updated at 2025-04-02 23:44:58
1 day ago
A Republican lawmaker left two top military commanders stunned Tuesday when he asked why the US is not “just killing” Chinese drug traffickers bringing fentanyl precursors into the Western Hemisphere.
“In your professional military opinion — put aside everything, policy — as an admiral, if we just started killing these people that are killing Americans (through drug overdoses) — 250,000, 300,000 Americans; about the amount of people that died in World War II — why aren’t we just killing these people?” Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) asked Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, who leads US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), during the House Armed Services Committee hearing.
Holsey, who oversees military operations in and around South America, initially responded by asking what Van Orden meant by “these people.”
“Are you talking about the ships coming across?” Holsey asked.
“I’m talking about these narcoterrorists,” Van Orden replied. “Why aren’t we just killing the people that are killing American citizens? It makes absolutely no sense to me.”
Holsey explained that the military does not have the authority to kill the drug smugglers, and further explained that fentanyl ingredients coming to China for processing in Mexico for eventual smuggling into the United States are being shipped through legal means.
“I understand that,” Van Orden replied before asking both Holsey and US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) commander, Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, an even bolder question.
“In your professional military opinions, if we started killing narcoterrorists and sinking Chinese ships that are bringing poison into the Western Hemisphere, would that reduce the amount of stuff coming into the Western Hemisphere and reduce the amount of American citizens that are being poisoned to death?” he asked.
Guillot agreed in principle, stating that a stronger approach to stopping drug traffickers could help reduce the number of drugs and overdose deaths in America.
“Well, I think if we aggressively stop them, it will, it will bring it down,” he said.
Some Republican lawmakers have called for direct military intervention against Mexican drug cartels as the US grapples with its opioid crisis and improving homeland security.
However, foreign policy and defense experts have suggested the US would need to partner with foreign nations like Mexico and China to better tackle the cartels and ensure smuggling stops completely.
“Mexican cartels are not merely criminal organizations; they operate as paramilitary entities with deep financial resources, global supply chains, and sophisticated logistical networks that extend into the United States,” the non-partisan Atlantic Council wrote in a January report.
“It is unlikely that such groups would passively absorb US attacks. Instead, as history shows, cartels are highly likely to retaliate both pre-emptively and reactively.”
