This should "persuade" him. Just ask Noriega.
Posted on 09/21/2006 2:57:50 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2006 – The Venezuelan government’s anti-U.S. stance is “bigger than a nuisance,” the outgoing commander of U.S. military operations in Latin American said here yesterday.
Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, slated to give up command of U.S. Southern Command in October and move to command of U.S. European Command, spoke to Pentagon reporters yesterday about a wide range of topics about both regions.
“I think there’s an exporting of instability coming out of Venezuela,” he said. “I think it’s unfortunate. There’s a glut of money there from oil. Money talks in a lot of parts of the world. It buys things, influence.”
Craddock’s comments came on the same day Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush “a devil” during a speech to the U.N. General Assembly. The general said the United States should take such inflammatory speeches seriously.
Strengthening ties between Venezuela and Iran also worry U.S. officials, Craddock said. “It’s of concern,” he said. “We have to watch that.”
Earlier this year, U.S. officials opposed Venezuela’s purchase of 100,000 rifles from Russia because of the concern that Venezuela might funnel the weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a terrorist group known as FARC out of neighboring Colombia. Craddock said yesterday that Venezuela’s neighbors are concerned that the country’s recent purchases of high-performance aircraft and boats appear to be “more than would be needed for a reasonable defensive posture.”
FARC terrorists take advantage of the porous border between Colombia and Venezuela to seek safe haven in Venezuela when they’re fleeing Colombian government forces, Craddock said.
In large measure, the U.S. military has helped train those Colombian government forces, and Craddock said they’ve made tremendous strides. “They have built and are continuing to build a very competent, capable security force, both military and police,” he said.
The country has made substantial reforms and is focusing transformation of its defense organizational structure on threats it’s facing today. “Every servicemember is trained in human rights,” Craddock said. “Their leaders get human rights training. Only 2 percent of human rights allegations made in Colombia in the last couple years have been against police or military.”
The general cited successes in military partnerships in the region as evidence that engagement is the best way to deal with political tension between Venezuela and the United States. SOUTHCOM officials invite Venezuelan military leaders to all regional military conferences and meetings, and Venezuelan military officers are welcome in U.S. military training venues, he said.
“We want to have an engagement with the (Venezuelan) military. We’ve had a long history of it,” he said. “We still have some Venezuelan officers in the United States training. We would value that. We would hope they would continue to come.”
He noted the relationship between the two countries’ militaries is strained, more so than in the past. “It is not healthy. We would like to turn that around,” Craddock said. “But we’re limited by the political rhetoric, quite frankly.”
It's starting.
I am sure the plan is being dusted off, updated and revised.
Although I doubt it will be the Pentagon that is working on this plan.
Tick. Tick. Tick
Interesting take- after watching this fool's performance today.
Isn`t it amazing not one member of our press core had the intestinal fortitude to ask chavez if someone in his country is legally allowed to make disparaging remarks about him without being imprisoned or worse?Maybe it is time to end our affiliation with an organization like the despicable u.n.
Whoa. Thanks for the ping.
I think it's a very disturbing situation.
Yeah that and exporting 100,000 AK-47s.
snip: "Powell challenging Presidential Candidate D-John Kerry to "give up the names of foreign leaders he says want President Bush out of the White House"."
John Kerry owned up to saying exactly that after his pals in the MSM tried to assert he said something else. But after Colin Powell's direct querry, John Kerry, as I recalled "ignored" the request for "whom".
Or How about This from Newsmax, 04/27/2004 04:11:24 PM:
Hillary Blasts Bush in Arab Press
In remarks being reported throughout the Arab world Tuesday morning, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton blasted the Bush administration as a threat to peace in the Middle East, going so far as to accuse President Bush of endangering the lives of U.S. troops.
Sen. Clinton delivered the unprecedented attack in an interview with the London-based Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Monday, with newspapers from Tehran to Islamabad picking up her harsh words almost immediately.
Typical was the coverage by Tehran's news agency Mehr, which quoted Clinton as saying that "the U.S. is trapped in the quagmire of Iraq."
"Referring to the Bush Administration policies as arrogant and insolent," Mehr said, "the wife of the former U.S. president further added that Bush is not willing to admit his mistakes in Iraq, the grave mistakes that have endangered the lives of both the Iraqi people and the U.S. servicemen alike."
The former first lady said that Bush's "mistakes have also threatened peace and stability in the region."
---end snips.
So do I. And even more "unfortunate", is the systematic ignoring of the Islamic infiltration and setting up of the money machine Islam thrives on in the tri border area, for the past 30 years by mostly Democrat administrations, something it seems that has given Chavez some confidence (like a wimp in a school yard with "backers") to shoot his mouth off in the UN, applauded by the corruption 'Coughing Anus' has seated there.
He's recently (last week or two) ordered even more weaponry. Also read he was pissed after first delivery of the AK47's, they weren't new for one thing !
This should "persuade" him. Just ask Noriega.
"Although I doubt it will be the Pentagon that is working on this plan."
If we have had successful joint training excercises with Venezuela's military, we may have a few 'operators' that can turn the military on Chavez...and then bingo...COUP!
I hope we are working hard on some kind of plan to get rid of the monster.
As long as we can keep John Kerry and Co. from conspiring with the enemy. That's the problem with this country; we have traitors who should be in prison for life being paid by the taxpayer to destroy the nation.
panama and venezuela have almost nothing in common particularly as it concerns military action against VZ as anything but a fantasy at this point. maybe if venezuela had a tenth the population it does, and over ten thousand US soldiers stations at various bases within a few miles of chavez' palace, but that just ain't the case.
General Bantz Craddock...love that name.
"If we have had successful joint training excercises with Venezuela's military, we may have a few 'operators' that can turn the military on Chavez...and then bingo...COUP! "
i bet a lot of possible problems with his military were solved in the abortive april 2002 removal. that gave him a pretty good idea of who he needed to replace.
call me grim, but unless chavez actually provokes a regional conflict and directly involves the his military, he is unlikely to be unseated.
You are probably a tad more realistic than me....lol. Does anyone know of any english Venezuela newspapers or websites?
Has this little creep actually left this country, or are we to expect more of this tomorrow?
I have no idea.
Not sure when he's leaving- but check out THIS tid-bit:
As of Thursday afternoon, "Hegemony or Survival," originally published in 2003, had jumped into the top 10 of Amazon, where it was ranked 20,664 the day before, and Barnes & Noble.com, from a previous ranking of 748.
http://jam.canoe.ca/Books/2006/09/21/1873833-ap.html
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