The Mindless Do-Somethingism of Attacking the Cartels

Saying that “we need to go after them” is not a serious argument.

Trump and Vance are threatening to launch attacks in Mexico again:

Donald Trump said in a portion of a Fox News interview that aired Tuesday night that “strikes” against drug cartels in Mexico are “absolutely” on the table if he is reelected.

The interview, filmed this past weekend, has been airing in excerpts on Jesse Watters’s show.

Sitting next to Trump, running mate J.D. Vance said, “It’s funny that people accuse us of being bombastic for saying, the cartels, we need to go after them.” The cartels are costing American lives, he said. “That’s what’s reckless.”

Maybe Vance doesn’t know what bombastic means, but that is not usually what critics say about supporters of military action against cartels. The politicians calling for some form of U.S. military intervention in Mexico are foolish, irresponsible, demagogic, ridiculous, ignorant, and dangerous. That’s what critics of this terrible idea have said since it first start circulating during the Trump years, and nothing has changed since then. Saying that “we need to go after them” is not a serious argument. It is the most mindless do-somethingism imaginable.