NATO's shoot-down of yet another drone piercing Romanian airspace exposes the relentless probing by hostile powers and the indispensable need for armed vigilance along Europe's eastern flank. This fourth incident in a single year shows that passive diplomacy invites aggression while forward defense upholds the sovereignty of free nations. The Founders understood that individual liberty cannot survive without a government empowered to repel foreign threats, a principle echoed in the federal structure of alliances that pool strength without erasing national independence. Weakness at the center, whether in Washington or Brussels, erodes that compact and invites further violations. America must back such operations without apology or delay if ordered liberty is to endure.