Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
“Most U.S. drug traffickers are Americans, but the president is ordering extrajudicial maritime killings while ignoring the domestic demand that drives the market.”
https://reason.com/2025/09/19/americans-like-drugs-killing-drug-traffickers-wont-change-that/
Inside the Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission to North Korea and What Went Wrong | Amanpour and Company
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79djGjRKsg4
The U.S. deadly strike on the potential drug boat appears to have been illegal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKF1e58j5XQ
“By the sources’ telling, SEAL Team Six had sailed to the North Korean coast in two mini-submarines under a communications blackout, which meant that they lacked the livestreamed intelligence they were used to having. Based on aerial surveillance beforehand, the military planners had concluded that this part of North Korea was supposed to be free of boat traffic at that hour of the night in the winter.
Some of the SEALs swam to shore while others stayed in the submarines. When a leader of the shore team saw flashlights coming from a boat and a man jumping into the water, he opened fire without any discussion. Then the shore team swam to dispose of the bodies—trying to sink them so that they couldn’t be found—and then they sent a distress signal to evacuate. There were no weapons or uniforms on the boat.
…
The mission was carried out during the first Trump administration. The U.S. government wanted insight into North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his high-stakes nuclear negotiations with President Donald Trump.”
https://reason.com/2025/09/05/navy-seals-reportedly-killed-north-korean-fishermen-and-mutilated-their-bodies-to-hide-a-failed-mission/
““JD “I don’t give a shit” Vance says killing people he accuses of a crime is the “highest and best use of the military.” Did he ever read To Kill a Mockingbird?” Paul wrote on X on Saturday night. “Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation??”
…
They are looking for answers as to why the administration elected to fire on the cartel, rather than rounding them up, and some are wary the strike could expand the president’s authority to call upon his war powers. There have also been questions about details of the attack and desire for proof that the boat itself was actually what the administration says it was.
“What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial,” Paul said of Vance’s Saturday post.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/07/rand-paul-clashes-with-jd-vance-over-us-strike-on-venezuelan-boat-00549080
U.S. strikes Venezuelan drug boat in international waters. Trump has a special naval task force off the Venezuelan coast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Rl2zzMP67U
U.S. having major problems building and maintaining ships.
Many leadership positions are empty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOHKog66DaA
Is the Navy’s new F/A-XX stealth fighter dead in the water?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH019U1QhDw
U.S. having a lot of trouble building and maintaining ships.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOHKog66DaA
“Since Rubio took over the NSC, he has shrunk its staff by more than half. It now has fewer than 100 people, according to a person familiar with the NSC process. Arguably more importantly, Rubio has imposed changes to what’s called “the interagency process” — a key function of the NSC that involves coordinating policy and messaging across government agencies and departments.
That process, two people told me, is now one in which important meetings aren’t held, career staffers are often in the dark about what’s expected of them and some people or their institutions try to take advantage of power vacuums. I granted many of those I spoke to anonymity to discuss internal administration dynamics.
Some U.S. diplomats and other national security professionals are worried that the current structure means small crises will explode into big ones because they don’t get early attention, and that key officials who deal with priority issues, such as Ukraine, are being iced out of important conversations.
One of the people familiar with the AUKUS situation said the broken process was already fueling turf fights, such as with Colby, a man known for challenging status quo thinking.
“It’s Game of Thrones politics over there,” the person said.”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/07/02/trumps-national-security-council-is-flailing-00436700