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Merged Peace President invades Venezuela,/U.S. Forces Capture Maduro

Minoosh said:
I despise Trump in almost every way, but I had little to criticize in his extremely limited involvement with Iran. And I love Iran. It probably kept Israel from a much less restrained attack. IMO it was handled about as well as it could have been, and it was appropriate.

Then there's Venezuela. The precedent bugs the hell out of me, but just surgically extricating Maduro? Like, nobody wanted him there. I'm not sure he even wanted to be there. The result, at the moment, isn't horrible.

Despite Trump's claims about oil, I wonder if this is even something US companies WANT to invest in heavily right now. It could just be Trump trying to sound like a real businessman. s

Going back to our old way of doing business with South America would be a huge mistake IMO. So the precedent bugs me A LOT. But really at this moment the only practical difference is Maduro's gone. There may be some downside to that, and there are always unintended consequences. It may or may not blow up in our face.

If Trump really turns Latin America into his personal Monopoly board he may lose interest in the rest of the world entirely much to the benefit of Russia and China. We will lose all soft power *including* in Latin America because Trump probably figures "soft power" is for sissies anyway.

But he has the attention span of a gnat. If he keeps changing his mind every 5 minutes, designing ballrooms and going after low-hanging fruit maybe he'll end up playing in his sandbox making airplane noises while somewhat smarter and more coherent takes the reins. Who knows, that could be worse. But I'm just so ready for him to be a lame duck. It will be a huge relief and I guess we take our chances on what follows.
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Actually the best opition the US had vis a vis Iran was bombing Netenyahu's dacha. But then again, the US has a long, conituous history of not doing the right thing about Israel.
 
dudalb said:
Main problem might be that the drug charges against Maduro look pretty weak when it comes to evidence.
Maduro was scum. no doubt, a tinpot El Presidente type dictator, and I have no sympathy for him. but Trump's action was both wrong and stupid.
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Wrong and stupid, isn't that the motto of this US administration?
 
arthwollipot said:
Sometimes it seems like the US administration has someone high up whose job it is to work out what the President wants, and then find the most dumb and stupid way to achieve that.
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I still can't shake the feeling that they are setting Trump up as Mr Dumb and Stupid Kooky Geriatric, the prime goal being to create a smokescreen of rank stupidity that the media just keep lapping up. Meanwhile, behind that smokescreen, dirty deeds done quietly...but not dirt cheap.
 
Minoosh said:
Per Google AI, this is enough to power the world for 12 hours.

ETA: This is going with Trump's high-end estimate. 30 million, a little over 7 hours. In 2023 it was about a 1.5 day supply for the U.S. While it's not nothing, it seems to me the messaging here is suffering. Is this a gift from Venezuela? Have they even bothered filing civil forfeiture proceedings against Maduro? That gives them legal cover to confiscate his personal property, which I doubt the oil is. It sounds a lot like extortion. I'm not naive, I know this is one of the ways power works. I know Trump doesn't care if people think he's a gangster but a few around him might be wanting to soften that just a little.
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Also do Venezuela even know they're handing it over? Is this just another random Trump thought?

Although in retrospect the timing of this snatch obviously had an alternate purpose, to overshadow yesterday's anniversary, a dark anniversary that Trump didn't want to be drawn on, questioned about or forced to comment on. Eric's birthday.
 
Minoosh said:
Per Google AI, this is enough to power the world for 12 hours.

ETA: This is going with Trump's high-end estimate. 30 million, a little over 7 hours. In 2023 it was about a 1.5 day supply for the U.S. While it's not nothing, it seems to me the messaging here is suffering. Is this a gift from Venezuela? Have they even bothered filing civil forfeiture proceedings against Maduro? That gives them legal cover to confiscate his personal property, which I doubt the oil is. It sounds a lot like extortion. I'm not naive, I know this is one of the ways power works. I know Trump doesn't care if people think he's a gangster but a few around him might be wanting to soften that just a little.
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He told them they were going to give him a gift.

Or rather, he knew they were going to give him a gift so he took it anyway.
 
Reports I have seen say it's a sub.

What's the plan? If it's taken over by helicoptering Seals aboard, sink it?

The main reports say the escort ships are in the Baltic.
 
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