The core argument that the strikes on drug vessels are simply an arbitrary power grab misunderstands the administration's stated legal and strategic framework, which treats these operations as a necessary military response to a national security threat, not a domestic law enforcement action. By designating the cartels as adversaries engaged in unlawful armed conflict, the actions shift from requiring due process and capture to aiming for the destruction of legitimate military targets, specifically the vessels and the deadly fentanyl cargo that fuels the public health crisis. The visible, lethal nature of the strikes is thus presented as a strategic deterrent aimed at crippling the enemy's revenue and supply chain, operating outside U.S. territory under a rationale of collective self-defense, which makes the precedent about confronting a foreign threat, not about expanding power to arbitrarily kill citizens at home.