Dear Pete Hegseth, I’m Grateful the Japanese Navy Spared My Grandfather’s Life

[Say it aint so]

Do you not think Trump did the right thing? Gee, talk about darned if you do, darned if you don't. You blow up drug dealers, liberals complain. You arrest drug dealers, liberals complain. You set drug dealers free, liberals complain. It appears the best approach is to do nothing, which is probably why liberals do nothing about it.

It's not about blowing up drug dealers. It's about legality. No one is defending the arrest of drug dealers. But your defense of the pardon of one by Trump speaks volumes.

 

[Nithavela]

I suspect that if you had a son or daughter killed by a cocaine or fentanyl overdose, you would have a completely different opinion.

About math?

 

[ranunculus]

NBC

View attachment 374127View attachment 374129

Here are the pictures of the supposed "fishing boats" that were blown up by the US Navy. Note all the bundles of what appears to be either cocaine or fentanyl. Perhaps all the "fishing gear" is underneath it? Now is the part where you dismiss the evidence and continue claiming there is none, even though I cannot provide it to you. Good day. For the record, if I do not reply, it isn't because I cannot provide evidence. It means that evidence is not worth presenting to ideologues who refuse to accept it.

Those screengrabs come from a video from NBC titled "Watch: U.S. Coast Guard crew intercepts drug-smuggling vessel. Note how it says intercepts, not blows up and then double taps the survivors clinging for life to the wreckage.

More importantly, the article and video are from 2019. So these are not in fact "pictures of the supposed "fishing boats" that were blown up by the US Navy"

Coast Guard unloads 26,000 pounds of cocaine seized from Pacific

An estimated $350 million in cocaine has been hauled in from Pacific Ocean in recent weeks, the military said Friday.

www.nbcnews.com

I'm sure you'll be apologetic about misleading people

 

[ranunculus]

I should add, the first image is from here:

https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/police-drugs-mexico-boat-chase-b2403395.html

2023 and involving the Mexican navy

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Those screengrabs come from a video from NBC titled "Watch: U.S. Coast Guard crew intercepts drug-smuggling vessel. Note how it says intercepts, not blows up and then double taps the survivors clinging for life to the wreckage.

More importantly, the article and video are from 2019. So these are not in fact "pictures of the supposed "fishing boats" that were blown up by the US Navy"

Coast Guard unloads 26,000 pounds of cocaine seized from Pacific

An estimated $350 million in cocaine has been hauled in from Pacific Ocean in recent weeks, the military said Friday.

www.nbcnews.com

I'm sure you'll be apologetic about misleading people

Never let a good lie go to waste.

 

[Larniavc]

NBC

View attachment 374127View attachment 374129

Here are the pictures of the supposed "fishing boats" that were blown up by the US Navy. Note all the bundles of what appears to be either cocaine or fentanyl. Perhaps all the "fishing gear" is underneath it? Now is the part where you dismiss the evidence and continue claiming there is none, even though I cannot provide it to you. Good day. For the record, if I do not reply, it isn't because I cannot provide evidence. It means that evidence is not worth presenting to ideologues who refuse to accept it.

As I can't see the dates I'll put money on these being yet another fake picture that some folks accept without the most remedial of fact checking.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

So you would then agree that the best course of action is to set up a meeting between these cartel members and God so that our brothers and sisters in Christ can finally live in peace and safety in their own country.

Huh? The best course of action is not to blow them up to bits and pieces without knowing if they are actually guilty of drug running or victims themselves. This is how it was always done with the coast guard.The standard and long-established procedure has been to use disabling fire, often delivered by the Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) snipers targeting the outboard engines, to stop and board the vessel, which allows for the seizure of the contraband and the arrest of the crew for criminal prosecution. This model prioritizes preserving life and capturing suspects.

 

[Richard T]

Poor poor narco terrorists drug smugglers. If only they had the same level of outrage for the kids they kill every year with their cargo.

Many just sign on a boat as a day laborer for 10k or so. One even told the Wall Street Journal reporter that he never expected he would see any of the crew from the boat he went on, ever again. So they have no outrage, some are just locals trying to boost their income from transporting drugs. The boat that was double tapped was headed to Suriname. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/05/politics/suriname-boat-strike-bradley
Given that the USA never gives capital punishment to drugs dealers or makers that kill people after a sale, I am not sure why capital punishment is required? I guess the USA wants to have jurisdiction over all cocaine sales. Good luck with that. Dutuerte in the Philippines killed thousands of drug people, and most researchers suggest it had no long term effect.

I can now offer a solution that was first discussed in the UK to help prevent smuggling. Quit selling the fast boat motors to these areas of smuggling. I would suggest too a boat buy back could take all many boats out of the fight. Cheaper than a 100,000 missile per boat too. Combine the strict regulation of certain boat motors and a dwindling supply of craft and the issue is almost "dead in the water" rather than boat crewman dead forever.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

It's not about blowing up drug dealers. It's about legality. No one is defending the arrest of drug dealers. But your defense of the pardon of one by Trump speaks volumes.

Who said I was defending Trump for pardons?

 

[MyOwnSockPuppet]

In WWII my grandfather served in the Royal Navy when his ship was sunk in the English channel. There he bobbed around for a day more or less. I dont know if the Germans were in a position to come back around to kill the shipwrecked. But at least for my sake its a good thing they didnt.

I look at this current incident and get the sense theres a line thats been crossed, and we're now on the side of barbarism if we go on this way. And I get that heat-of-battle and fog-of-war can confound morality such that we should generally be slow to judge. But neither of those really seem to apply here.

There was only one instance of a U-boat killing shipwreck survivors in the entire war - the captain was eventually caught, tried, convicted, tied to a post and shot for war crimes

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

Tell us again how you are pro life.

I call it pro birth. Nothing else.

 

[Fantine]

Poor poor narco terrorists drug smugglers. If only they had the same level of outrage for the kids they kill every year with their cargo.

You are making a big assumption. There is no proof of narcotics on the boat. One verified ship attack contained narcotics that were going to a larger vessel bound for Europe, not the US.

 

[Richard T]

You are making a big assumption. There is no proof of narcotics on the boat. One verified ship attack contained narcotics that were going to a larger vessel bound for Europe, not the US.

The double tap boat was going to Suriname.

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Those screengrabs come from a video from NBC titled "Watch: U.S. Coast Guard crew intercepts drug-smuggling vessel. Note how it says intercepts, not blows up and then double taps the survivors clinging for life to the wreckage.

More importantly, the article and video are from 2019. So these are not in fact "pictures of the supposed "fishing boats" that were blown up by the US Navy"

Coast Guard unloads 26,000 pounds of cocaine seized from Pacific

An estimated $350 million in cocaine has been hauled in from Pacific Ocean in recent weeks, the military said Friday.

www.nbcnews.com

I'm sure you'll be apologetic about misleading people

I suppose this is another fishing boat?

 

[Fantine]

The double tap boat was going to Suriname.

And in Surinam. according to Meet the Press, they were going to unload to a larger ship headed for Europe. So why are we fighting Europe's battles pretending that those drugs are going to us? Almost all of our drugs come through Mexico or Asia.

But how did they find the drugs? Did they send divers down to examine the wreckage? There were no survivors to have questioned.

In short, Venezuela has more oil than any other country in the world and Trump wants to feed his rapacious needs by more, more more.

 

[7thKeeper]

NBC

View attachment 374127View attachment 374129

Here are the pictures of the supposed "fishing boats" that were blown up by the US Navy. Note all the bundles of what appears to be either cocaine or fentanyl. Perhaps all the "fishing gear" is underneath it? Now is the part where you dismiss the evidence and continue claiming there is none, even though I cannot provide it to you. Good day. For the record, if I do not reply, it isn't because I cannot provide evidence. It means that evidence is not worth presenting to ideologues who refuse to accept it.

Why do you lie to me sir?

 

[Richard T]

And in Surinam. according to Meet the Press, they were going to unload to a larger ship headed for Europe. So why are we fighting Europe's battles pretending that those drugs are going to us? Almost all of our drugs come through Mexico or Asia.

But how did they find the drugs? Did they send divers down to examine the wreckage? There were no survivors to have questioned.

In short, Venezuela has more oil than any other country in the world and Trump wants to feed his rapacious needs by more, more more.

Yes, we are the world's police. Hope you can read my latest blog on an alternate way to fight drug smuggling

 

[Perpetual Student]

Poor poor narco terrorists drug smugglers. If only they had the same level of outrage for the kids they kill every year with their cargo.

Let me ask two simple questions:
1) are you in favour of applying and protecting the rule of law, without ifs or buts and without exceptions?
2) Do you adhere to the principle that anybody is innocent until proven guilty?

 

[Servus]

As I can't see the dates I'll put money on these being yet another fake picture that some folks accept without the most remedial of fact checking.

Here you go:

Mexican Navy seizes 9,700 pounds of cocaine after high-speed boat chases caught on video

Dramatic video from the Mexican Navy shows two high-speed chase across the Pacific Ocean that ended with a massive cocaine bust.

abc7.com

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Here you go:

Mexican Navy seizes 9,700 pounds of cocaine after high-speed boat chases caught on video

Dramatic video from the Mexican Navy shows two high-speed chase across the Pacific Ocean that ended with a massive cocaine bust.

abc7.com

The words "Mexican Navy", "seizes", and "Pacific Ocean" are confusing me.