Posted on 10/17/2025 3:26:53 PM PDT by thegagline
DONALD Trump has deployed 10,000 US troops, nuclear-capable bombers, and America’s most elite special operations unit — the “Night Stalkers” — to the waters off Venezuela.
The Caribbean is now bracing for its most explosive showdown in decades as dictator Nicolás Maduro whips his country into a war footing and vows to repel any US attack.
In a dramatic escalation, three B-52 bombers — the same heavy bombers used in Iraq and Syria — flew for hours off Venezuela’s coast this week.
Meanwhile, MH-6 Little Birds and MH-60 Black Hawks from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Stalkers, carried out low-level flights just 90 miles from Venezuelan territory.
The storied unit, famed for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, specialises in lighting-fast, low-altitude night missions and often carries Green Berets, Navy SEALs and Delta Force operators into battle.
The US Navy now has eight warships and a nuclear submarine patrolling the Caribbean.
Most of the American force is based in Puerto Rico, with about 2,200 Marines stationed on amphibious assault ships.
The Pentagon has also deployed F-35B stealth fighters, P-8 Poseidon spy planes, and MQ-9 Reaper drones to the region.
Visual analysis by The Washington Post shows that the elite helicopters were recently spotted over open water near oil and gas platforms off Trinidad’s northeast coast, bringing them within striking distance — less than 90 miles — of multiple points along Venezuela’s shoreline.
US officials say the flights were training exercises designed to maintain readiness and “provide options” for Trump and the Pentagon, though they could also serve as preparation for expanded missions inside Venezuela.
(Excerpt) Read more at thesun.co.uk ...
The real threat is China. I don’t think that any U.S. politician has the testicular fortitude to take the necessary actions to counter China.
Trump is fighting China, Maduro is a Chinese proxy.
I don’t think this will be an invasion.
I think their goal on a perfect day is to sweep down pull up into a chopper the 19 or 20 most wanted in Venezuela including Maduro himself, leave and call it a day.
No “regime change” is needed.
The Venezuelan people already voted for a regime change but the Maduro regime refused to step down.
The Venezuelan elected officials are on the sidelines
Please, no boots on the ground in Venezuela (or anywhere else). Such deployments inevitably lead to the quicksand known as mission creep.
But destroying drug boats on the high seas? Oh, yeah! Keep it up.
The real question: Will the Venezuelan military fight?
They could make Maduro an offer he can’t refuse.
Folks won’t like this:
Chavez, and then Maduro, have won their elections. They bribe the barrios and they bribe them successfully and effectively, and win the elections.
The urban bunch with private industry hopes and maybe even assets are the force demanding they be removed — because they cannot win elections.
Have a look at the Chavez election details and compare their purity to the US election of Joe Biden over Trump in 2020. Which is more pure?
It’s about successful bribery, just like we do here pursuing govt funding for ideological groups.
Nuclear capable bombers. Screw you, beyotch. He’s not going to nuke Venezuela or even carpet bomb the country. They’re a show of force.
Right. China is all over Central and South America. Trump is enforcing the Monroe Doctrine.
👍🏻
The USAF has Cooperative Security Locations (formerly called Forward Operating Locations) on Aruba, 21 miles from the Venezuelan coast, and Curacao, 50 miles from the coast.
The Curacao FOL in particular plays host to US & foreign military units (usually UK & Dutch) who bring their anti-submarine warfare hardware and hunt drug runners to stay in practice.
But I suspect Aruba and Curacao are so close, they might be vulnerable to attacks from within Venezuela. The US might want more stand-off than they offer.
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/curacao.htm
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/aruba.htm
>> Folks won’t like this
Discerning folks may not BELIEVE it. I’m in that group.
China is all over Central and South America. Trump is enforcing the Monroe Doctrine.
Hezbollah/Iran have been operating in Venezuela, and probably other places, for years.
President Trump is not at war with the Venezuelan people. Fighting terrorism knows no boundaries. Narco-terrorists, terrorists, Islamofascistnazis. Evil takes many forms.
I wonder how deep the tunnels are?
Or nighttime special ops wiping out the drug trade there. Maybe a message to Mexico?
May depend on how fast they are digging. I don't think they were too worried when poopy pants was drooling and Hunter was harfing.
I’ve been wondering why the night ops (Night Stalkers) haven’t been flying over/around my farm lately.
For the past ten years I’ve owned the place I’ve enjoyed seeing, hearing them do refueling flights under NVDs. Made me proud to have been a fight surgeon (25th ID - light, AVN BDE). Despite several brief moments of absolute terror (having Khmer Rouge grunt walk out of a treeline aiming an RPG at our Blackhawk was one), I miss that - the flying, turning JP-8 into noise - more than anything.
Godspeed, Night Stalkers. Get ‘em.
“They bribe the barrios and they bribe them successfully and effectively, and win the elections.”’
How do you know that?
A safe assumption.
This is all about replacing the illegitimate Maduro.
Does their patch have a picture of Darren McGavin?
Not until the well dries up.
For the time being, China is STILL a major manufacturing hub for US headquartered firms.
It’s also a major market for us.
The Chinese hold onto a lot of US securities.
They are our only true near peer military threat.
They lobby heavily in the US, make some of our key players in politics rich, their media is broadcast here and in fact they both engage our media and have a foothold within it.
We “downplay” anything derogatory regards China: Taiwan blockade, Uyghurs, Chinese espionage in the US, the growth of their military and it’s direct orientation on us, forced abortions, religious oppression, the disappearance of dissidents, Tibet, a single party communist system, mass internment camps...
If you are economically important to us, you suddenly become pretty.
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