The Author of this excellent article has written informative words in most every paragraph. A reader will benefit enormously by consecrated study.

 

Fighting the cartels goes international

Trump’s National Security Strategy is bearing fruit in the Western Hemisphere.

Wendi Strauch Mahoney | March 7, 2026

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stepped away from overseeing Operation Epic Fury to host the hemispheric defense conference, where the focus was forging a more unified regional security strategy with neighboring nations.  In his March 5, 2026 remarks at the Americas Counter Cartel Conference (A3C) in Doral, Florida, Hegseth emphasized plans to expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation to coordinate military operations, security partnerships, and contingency response across the region overseen by the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) which is also headquartered in Doral.  Notably, just days before the conference, the United States and Ecuador engaged in their first joint military ground operation against South American drug cartels, the very kind of coordinated action Hegseth urged in his remarks.

Hegseth described a kind of “neighborhood watch” writ large, where sovereign nations work to “prevent external powers from threatening our peace and independence in our shared neighborhood,” expressly recalling the Monroe Doctrine framework and referring to it as the Trump Corollary of the Monroe Doctrine, while jokingly calling it the “Donroe Doctrine.”

Representatives from 17 countries attended the conference, which was described as the first gathering of its kind “in more than 30 years.”  The participating leaders signed the Joint Security Declaration, a foundational document committing their governments to deeper cooperation on border security, countering narco-terrorism, trafficking, addressing other shared threats, and protecting critical infrastructure across the Western Hemisphere.

Consistent with Trump’s National Security Strategy (NSS) and the administration’s designation of cartels as terrorist organizations, Hegseth cast cartels and narco-terrorism as military threats, not simply law enforcement challenges.  His remarks echoed secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Feb. 14, 2026 address at the Munich Security Conference (MSC), but with a sharper emphasis America’s own hemisphere.  Under the Trump administration, regional leaders, Hegseth said will no longer “accept the status quo to co-exist with narco-terrorism or [rely solely on a] law enforcement-alone approach that [has] failed to deter and dismantle threats.”  He made clear that the Trump administration has made the issue a core national defense mission.  Hegseth also stressed that the U.S. military was deployed to the border and said the 101st Airborne’s command structure was involved in operational control there.

Citing Operation Southern Spear, Hegseth referred to an offensive posture in the region, one that has moved from surveillance and interdiction to offensive maritime action.  Operation Southern Spear is an interagency mission that began in January 2025 as a 4th Fleet effort to use “Robotic and Autonomous Systems (RAS) to support the detection and monitoring of illicit trafficking” in the SOUTHCOM theater.

According to the Jan. 28, 2025 press release from the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command,

Operation Southern Spear will deploy long-dwell robotic surface vessels, small robotic interceptor boats, and vertical take-off and landing robotic air vessels to the USSOUTHCOM AOR. 4th Fleet will operationalize these unmanned systems through integration with U.S. Coast Guard cutters at sea and operations centers at 4th Fleet and Joint Interagency Task Force South. Southern Spear’s results will help determine combinations of unmanned vehicles and manned forces needed to provide coordinated maritime domain awareness and conduct counternarcotics operations.

By late 2025, it had expanded into a Joint Task Force Southern Spear campaign under U.S. Southern Command involving kinetic strikes, maritime interdictions, and tanker seizures carried out with support from the USS Gerald R. Ford and the Amphibious Ready Group.  In a Dec. 2, 2025 press conference, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson told the media there were “to date, a total of 21 kinetic strikes in U.S. Southern Command’s area of operations ... resulting in 82 suspected narco-terrorists having been killed.”

Official Pentagon and SOUTHCOM statements portray it as an interagency mission with DHS, the Coast Guard, and DOJ aimed at crushing illicit activity, defending the homeland, and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere.  An important part of Southern Spear is its “quarantine” of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean, with the U.S. declaring that “the only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.”  It is a broad regional security and coercive maritime enforcement mission.

Hegseth went on to say that fentanyl flows are down 56 percent, calling fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction.”  He boasted of Maduro’s and his wife’s capture in January, alluding to the difficulty of the operation.

The Trump administration is committed to a much larger mission than merely snuffing out narco-terrorists.  Hegseth, Rubio, and Trump’s NSS address a larger civilizational and ideological framework, whereby these nations are offspring of Western civilization, sharing a more ordered Christian worldview, one that contrasts with a more violent and chaotic worldview dominated by “narco-communism, narco-tyranny, mass migration, and globalism.”

The Trump doctrine is broadly geostrategic.  In that vein, Hegseth warned of adversaries that control ports, infrastructure, and choke points like the Panama Canal.  Calling upon America’s neighbors to “embrace our shared geography,” he said that these are

the same adversaries that threaten our shared heritage, threaten our shared geography as well. They seek to displace the historic “North-South” relationship that we’ve always shared with some sort of a new “Global South” that excludes the United States and other Western nations but includes non-Western powers and other adversaries.

The answer to our challenge, Hegseth continued, is not to ignore our geography in the name of global interests, but to embrace our shared geography in the name of national interests. That is why President Trump has drawn a new strategic map from Greenland to the Gulf of America to the Panama Canal and its surrounding countries.

Hegseth also signaled a likely institutional shift at U.S. Southern Command, moving from more effete support systems to the rugged operational support needed “for this robust mission ahead.”

One of the great mistakes of the past was that our leaders didn’t provide the U.S. Southern Command with the support that it needed. It was a command chock full of lawyers, social workers, NGOs, [and] law enforcement. That’s changing.

Trump’s national security Cabinet members are on message.  They share a muscular vision that treats cartel violence, porous borders, and foreign malign influence as interconnected national security threats requiring sustained regional action, not symbolic diplomacy.  The Trump administration views the Western Hemisphere as a strategic neighborhood that must be defended through burden-sharing, operational coordination, and a renewed expectation that partner nations will direct resources toward shared threats and objectives in defense of their own territory and sovereignty.

This is a 'good thing'! As usual the Senate Leader will set it aside.

 

The Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act!

Finally, the U.S. House is up to some good. But how will Republicans treat this bill in the Senate?

M. Walter | March 8, 2026 www.americanthinker.com

The House is up to some good!

Of course, it remains to be seen if Senate majority leader John “Brick Wall” Thune will take it up once it passes out of the House, but still, this bill is a very good thing.

Key provisions to the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act (H.R. 7640) are as follows:

1. Essentially outlaws “sanctuaries” by overriding any state or local laws that interfere with ICE’s duties.
2. Explicitly allows local law enforcement to ask about the immigration status of someone they are interacting with.
3. Grants immunity to local law enforcement from lawsuits stemming from their interactions with illegal aliens and designates the federal government as defendant instead.
4. Non-compliant jurisdictions will now be explicitly allowed, under this existing law, to have their federal funding removed. 
5. Forces the locals to honor detainers.
6. Allows local citizens to sue local jurisdictions for any harm that may result from their noncompliance.

The libs are apoplectic.  The American Prospect, a progressive rag, published an article entitled “Lawmakers Debate Bill to Blackmail Sanctuary Cities.”  “Blackmail.”  You gotta love the libs.  They love big government mandates some of the time, but not all of the time.  When they don’t love them, they’re “blackmail” and, in this case, “states’ rights.”  Yes, the party of slavery is actually back to that again, pulling out the old 10th Amendment card.

Sorry, libs.  The 10th Amendment does not apply here.  Immigration law is federal law, and the feds can do what the feds can do: Pass legislation mandating that you miscreant localities honor it — or else.  There’s nothing tyrannical about that.  They’re merely spelling out what should be obvious already from the many, multiple immigration laws we already have on the books.  But, because you’re progressives, you “negate” and “nullify” things, so we have to spell it out in positive terms for you, because you’re just like that: one sweet pain in the bippy.

Ring up your congressman.  Or text him or mail him or do whatever it is you do to let him know you’re watching this bill and want to see it passed.  Then, as soon as it does, call your senators and Leader Thune to let him know you want to see it voted on in the upper house.  If you’re new to all this, here’s a link to find your representatives and senators.

This is a very, very good law, and it absolutely deserves a vote in both chambers.

 

This post is a perfect example of 'words of wisdom'. It may change your perspectives.

 

America Needs a New Class of Leaders

Division is also opportunity.

J.B. Shurk | March 8, 2026 www.americanthinker.com

Image: Pashi via Pixabay, Pixabay License.

In the United States — and the civilizational “West” more broadly — we are a society divided by slogans, propaganda, and social media memes.  It is an unfortunate part of our present reality that we no longer engage in honest “public debate.”  We haven’t done so for a very long time.  

The Founding Fathers wrote essays and pamphlets and delivered hours-long speeches during which they articulated the reasons for their beliefs.  We get pink-hatted people — who may or may not identify as women — “shouting their abortions.”  We get automatons screaming, “Black lives matter,” “Free Palestine,” “Trump is Hitler,” “Hands off Iran,” and whatever other mindless chants billionaire-funded NGOs churn out.  

If you approach people yelling these things and ask them why they believe what they believe, they have no idea.  They can’t explain why “all human lives,” more generally, shouldn’t matter just as much as those with dark skin.  They don’t know anything about Israel’s ancient history, the United Kingdom and France’s colonial carving of the Middle East, the Soviet Union’s promotion of a “Palestinian” identity to cause the United States and its allies problems during the Cold War, any of the multitude of ways that the international community has broken its promises to the Israeli government for the last century, or how the United Nations has spent most of its existence targeting Israel for alleged “human rights” abuses while ignoring unspeakable evils committed by far too many regimes in power today.  They can’t explain why illegal aliens are breaking into America if “Trump is Hitler” or why the president’s determination to protect American citizens from foreign nationals by paying for those foreigners’ return to their own countries is somehow equivalent to Nazi atrocities that included the mass murder of six million Jews and millions of Soviets, Poles, Romani, disabled people, and other so-called “undesirables.”  They don’t have any idea why Iran’s theocratic tyrants and Islamic terrorists deserve to be protected when those tyrants and terrorists have killed, maimed, and kidnapped Americans, Europeans, and Jews around the world for nearly fifty years.  

Our ancestors benefited from Thomas Paine’s polemical pamphlets in favor of American independence.  They listened to Sam Adams’s fiery arguments for revolution.  They attended church services where they heard political exhortations from learned men delivering passionate sermons.  They read newspaper editorials and political essays aloud while drinking ale in local taverns.  Common people heard and debated uncommon ideas that birthed a new nation and altered the historic trajectory of the world.  

We, on the other hand, get hypocrites such as Senator Chuck Schumer, who was last year telling Americans that President Trump was “chickening out” on holding Iran’s Islamic regime accountable for nuclear saber-rattling before telling Americans this year that Trump has no business holding Iran’s Islamic regime accountable for its nuclear saber-rattling.  We get Democrats calling federal law enforcement agents “Trump’s Gestapo” because those agents put their lives on the line arresting criminal illegal aliens — including murderers, rapists, and other violent felons.  We get apocalyptic doomsayers such as Al Gore and Barack Obama who have told us that the “science” of “climate change” is “settled,” even though nothing those frauds have predicted has ever come true.  We get public school teachers indoctrinating students with ridiculously false ideas, such as (1) biological sex isn’t real; (2) the January 6, 2021 protest for election integrity was worse than the 9/11 Islamic terror attacks, the Pearl Harbor attack, and the Civil War all wrapped up together; (3) Muslims built America; and (4) America has never been more racist, fascist, or authoritarian than it is today.  We get a left-wing corporate news media establishment pushing the ludicrous argument that requiring voter identification (a basic electoral safeguard enforced around the world) is both racist and an impossible burden for legal voters to surmount (even though Americans must present valid ID to board planes, buy liquor, and enter government buildings).  

Notice that these sources of misinformation never advance anything that remotely resembles a rational argument.  Democrats don’t explain why they used to consider Iran a major national security threat but no longer do.  They don’t explain why it’s perfectly reasonable to attack federal law enforcement officers arresting criminal illegal aliens, even though they’ve spent five years calling the January 6 election protest an unacceptable “attack” on cops.  Barack Obama and other wealthy “global warming” fanatics can’t explain why they own expensive beachfront homes if those homes will soon be under water.  Democrats can’t explain why it’s too difficult for their voters to get photo IDs, or why boys should undress in girls’ locker rooms, or why white men are a “viral disease,” or why all of their political opponents are “racist, fascist Nazis.”  

All of these false statements are simply represented as undisputed “facts” that cannot be questioned.  As a kind of “political correctness” tripwire meant to ensure that these false ideas are never questioned, Democrats further insist that anyone asking questions must be a “racist, fascist Nazi,” too.  Rational argument no longer exists.  In its place, Democrats give us name-calling, self-censorship, circular reasoning, and empty tautology.

America is very divided today.  For most of its two-hundred-and-fifty-year history, though, America has been divided.  It was birthed in revolution.  It survived numerous attacks from foreign powers while still in its infancy.  It grew up through radical social change, profound technological innovation, and endless waves of immigration.  It has gone to war against itself, and it has gone to war against the world.  It has endured hardships that have destroyed other nations.  Nevertheless, its people have persevered, united, settled the wild frontier, built a continent, and prospered.  We look over our shoulders and applaud American achievement without reflecting on our near escapes from American disaster.

Division does not signal disaster.  Division is also opportunity.  When societies are forced to confront great change, some wilt, while others rise to the occasion.  America has been blessed with rare resilience.  Our nation is unique in human history because it is predicated on the still revolutionary principle that legitimate political power originates with the people.  We do not look to kings to tell us what we may or may not do.  As our rights come directly from God, aristocrats just get in the way.  Our institutions matter not because they are invested with power over us, but rather because we have lent those institutions some of our inherent powers so that they can properly defend our inherent rights.  Neither presidents nor congresses nor corporations can grant us what is already ours.

It is with this understanding of our natural rights in mind that I encourage everyone to protect those rights personally.  Read, learn, debate, and most importantly don’t give up just because giving up is in fashion these days.  This country has been through far worse and survived.  People who tell you that this is the end for America have a vested interest in seeing America end.  Those stubborn enough to resist will ensure that our country lives.

To be sure, we deserve more than slogans, propaganda, and memes.  We deserve civic leaders who can speak in complete sentences.  We deserve members of Congress who can introduce cogent arguments — supported by salient facts and not calumnies, falsehoods, or red herrings.  We deserve a new generation of leaders who remind us of Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Sam Adams, and George Washington.  Perhaps they already move among us.

Do not mistake division for disease.  Division is the engine that often spawns greatness.  What we require is discernment.  We require wisdom.  We require courage.  We require leadership.  We require renewed faith in God’s grace.  These are not always in abundant supply.  But they are very American things.

 

 

True words spoken to enlighten US, encourage US and demands our undivided attention!

 

The impact of weak men on national stability

America’s greatest threat is not external crisis but the weakness of its men.

Christian Vezilj | March 6, 2026 www.americanthinker.com

The greatest threats to a nation are not always those in headlines. External dangers like nuclear war, economic collapse, and geopolitical conflict are real, but the more serious threat comes from within; the gradual decline of the men who uphold civilization. When men lose their courage, conviction, and purpose, a nation's decay begins. But even amid decline, hope persists. Across the country, young men are reviving faith, strength, and duty.

Weak men lack inner strength. They react with emotion, not conviction, with fear, not courage. They avoid conflict, peace at any cost, and seek approval over honor. Responsibility is avoided because it demands sacrifice. Confrontation is avoided because it demands courage. With timidity, disorder and decay follow. A weak man hopes danger passes, trades beliefs for approval, and folds instead of standing firm.

A strong man is the opposite. He feels fear, but he does not obey it. He has emotions, but they do not rule him. His life is anchored in a belief system—one he will protect, honor, and act upon even when it costs him. In other words, his actions stem from conviction. Strong men are sometimes called warriors, not because they seek violence, but because they refuse to run from the battles that matter. They confront challenges head-on. For example, they defend their families even at the risk of their own lives. Additionally, they stand for their country even when standing is dangerous. Ultimately, a strong man’s honor is not theoretical; it is lived. It is visible in the way he carries himself, the way he loves, the way he sacrifices.

History shows that when men lose their inner strength, civilizations fall. Families fracture, communities weaken, and institutions grow timid and corrupt. Without strong men, a nation cannot defend itself—morally, culturally, or physically. Therefore, the nation's endurance rests on the character and strength of its men; strong men form the foundation for strong families, communities, and the nation itself.

And this is where the hope emerges. Across America, particularly among young men, there is a quiet but powerful revival of faith. It is not loud or performative. It is not driven by politics or trends. It is happening in churches, in men’s groups, in late-night conversations, in small gatherings where young men open Scripture and rediscover who they were created to be. This revival is calling men back to God—and, in doing so, to strength.

This revival is shaping men who reject passivity in favor of purpose and choose discipline over comfort. They love their families, provide faithfully, and lead with humility. They stand for truth even when mocked. They know masculinity is not toxic—it is necessary.

The beauty of this movement is its generational nature. Strong men raise children who are grounded, confident, and secure, build lasting marriages, and create stable, loving homes. They strengthen their communities by living as called. As these men rise, the nation rises with them.

America’s greatest threat is not external crisis but the weakness of its men. Its greatest hope is the strength returning to them. War and economic collapse are survivable, but a nation cannot endure without men willing to stand, protect, and lead. This current revival is more than spiritual; it is a civilizational renewal, rebuilding the nation’s foundation one man at a time.

This revival will continue—if young men keep turning to God, courage, and honor—the country’s future is renewal, not decline. A nation’s strength starts in the heart of a man, and across America, those hearts are waking up again.