I wish Rand Paul would point out that those little boats we’re spending huge amounts to blow up are hauling a few kilos of Columbian cocaine to Trinidad and Tobago where it is then shipped on to Europe.
The vast majority of American drug deaths are from fentanyl or heroin. Venezuela neither produces nor serves as a transit hub for these. As for cocaine, less than 15% of that drug entering the US transits through Venezuela (none produced there).
It’s obvious that huge (and very expensive!) buildup of military assets down there is not really about drug interdiction.
> hauling a few kilos of Columbian cocaine to Trinidad and Tobago where it is then shipped on to Europe <
What does that matter? Evil is evil. When the navies of Western Europe finally decided to suppress piracy in the Caribbean in the 18th century, they didn’t worry about which pirate was attacking which merchant ship.
Same applies here.
But I will grant you one thing. I would be very much against Trump deciding to go further, and actually attacking Venezuela. That’s an act of war, and requires congressional approval.
For the sake of my niece Sierra who died last year from drug overdose..damn them all and bomb scourge their operations! Screw them over like they are screwing over young people in our country and all over the world! F them!
I don't believe for a minute this was ever about the drugs, although it gets good coverage under those auspices.
Some time ago, I heard Pres make a speech to a meeting of dignitaries (unsure who/what) and mention the connection between communist foreign influence and release of many prisoners for the purpose of infiltrating the US and integrating chaos for profit (organized) and societal destabilization (disorganized). I also read the same attribution on a column sometime later. Chronologically, it made a lot of sense.
I never believed we would amass firepower on the scale in theater now for drug interdiction ops. More like a low-temp war has been waged for many months with the soldiers arriving during the third-term of Obama AKA Biden.
Think about the lawlessness and industrial-grade crime that's been unleashed in the past 10 years. Since Chavez croaked and Maduro took the wheel, we've been at war. Open boarders and corruption made it easy. I think we eventually do a Noriega on Maduro. My opinion only.