“#Breaking: The United States just launched a full scale attack on Venezuela from Air and Sea, report of hundreds of Toma Hawk Cruise Missiles striking dozens of targets in downtown Caracas.”
“Chart showing the massive military buildup that President Donald Trump has amassed in the Caribbean to remove socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro from power
This is not regime change. The people of Venezuela already voted for regime change and Maduro is refusing to leave
He is a major destabilizing force in Latin America.”
“FYI, here are the DOJ charges against Maduro and his regime
“For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities. Today’s announcement is focused on rooting out the extensive corruption within the Venezuelan government – a system constructed and controlled to enrich those at the highest levels of the government. The United States will not allow these corrupt Venezuelan officials to use the U.S. banking system to move their illicit proceeds from South America nor further their criminal schemes.”
“Today we announce criminal charges against Nicolás Maduro Moros for running, together with his top lieutenants, a narco-terrorism partnership with the FARC for the past 20 years,” said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman. “The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our charges. As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and wellbeing of our nation. Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon. While Maduro and other cartel members held lofty titles in Venezuela’s political and military leadership, the conduct described in the Indictment wasn’t statecraft or service to the Venezuelan people. As alleged, the defendants betrayed the Venezuelan people and corrupted Venezuelan institutions to line their pockets with drug money.”
“All those complaining this was unlawful, George HW Bush did exactly the same thing in Operation Just Cause in Panama — all without an AUMF from Congress. Ronald Reagan also invaded Grenada without an AUMF. So spare me the TDS about Trump trampling the Constitution and international law.”
“The president offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States. Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says.
Kudos to our brave special operators who pulled off a truly impressive operation”
its not about drugs; Trump just pardoned the ex-president of Honduras for similar charges
It’s about oil and the return of the nationalised oil fields to corporate control. War for oil and corporations.
On the surface level, it’s similar to Grenada and Panama — both of those operations were also against international law and not well supported in the US. Hence Bush Jr went to Congress and the UN when it came to Iraq.
From what I can tell, the scale is far larger than Panama and Grenada. And as Trump has said the US will occupy Venezuela, the force needed will be larger — eventually he will need to go to Congress. On a practical level, it resembles Iraq more than Panama especially if occupation is prolonged.
AJ – It appears that Omar may have two X accounts, with the one I shared being the more updated one. (And no, I did not merely trust Google, I went to the source, as one should.) It begins with a pinned post from 2024, but after that, there are posts from January 1 and going back through December. (I did not look further back.)
Did you look below that pinned one from 2024? I am seeing posts from Jan. 1, Dec. 31, 30, etc., including one on the 25th, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, and continuing back further.
Looking closer, wondering what the difference might be, I see that the X account that I shared says it is managed by her staff, although it does look like she personally posts on it.
Even so, looking at the other one, from as far as I can see after scrolling down quite a bit, it looks like Omar does not tweet very often on that one anyway, with most of the posts being from the late 20-teens to early 2020s. That could account for her not tweeting on that account for a while.
“In January, just before they left office, the Biden and Kamala offered $25 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest. Now Kamala is outraged Maduro was arrested. These people are so dumb it hurts my brain.”
“You see a lot claims that Venezuela has nothing to do with drugs because most of the fentanyl comes from elsewhere. I want to address this:
First off, fentanyl isn’t the only drug in the world and there is still fentanyl coming from Venezuela (or at least there was).
Second, cocaine, which is the main drug trafficked out of Venezuela, is a profit center for all of the Latin America cartels. If you cut out the money from cocaine (or even reduce it) you substantially weaken the cartels overall. Also, cocaine is bad too!
Third, yes, a lot of fentanyl is coming out of Mexico. That continues to be a focus of our policy in Mexico and is a reason why President Trump shut the border on day one.
Fourth, I see a lot of criticism about oil. About 20 years ago, Venezuela expropriated American oil property and until recently used that stolen property to get rich and fund their narcoterrorist activities. I understand the anxiety over the use of military force, but are we just supposed to allow a communist to steal our stuff in our hemisphere and do nothing? Great powers don’t act like that.
The United States, thanks to President Trump’s leadership, is a great power again. Everyone should take note.”
Omar’s dirty little fingers are all over this Kizzie, regardless of her X feed, and who runs it. It was Omar who introduced the legislation and Act that allowed this fraud. She is the one who orchestrated the conditions that allowed the fraud, and she did it knowing full well what was being done with it.
“Please find an update from my dear friend and colleague, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson. He remains in our prayers:”
“I wanted to share a brief health update. I recently underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor and am now recovering. I’m doing well and hopeful as I move forward.
Thank you for the many messages of support and prayers—they truly mean more than I can say. As I focus on recovery, I may not be able to respond to everyone, but please know how grateful I am.”
“Venezuela population Celebrating Dictator Maduro’s downfall/capture. But here in NYC, loony left is protesting Maduro’s arrest.🤔I guess they know better than the “actual” people of Venezuela?😏As always, democrats on the criminal’s side.”
Kaine is either totally unqualified for his position and totally ignorant of how govt works, or he knows it and chooses to lie anyway. Neither are a good look.
“Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va) told Fox that “the Constitution does not give the President the right to initiate military action.” That is entirely incorrect. The Constitution does not give a president the right to declare war. However, presidents are allowed to use military forces without such a declaration…”
—
“…Democratic presidents routinely launched attacks in other countries without any objection from Sen. Kaine. Obama not only killed an American citizen not charge with any crime but attacked Libya’s capital and attacked its military to cause a regime change without consulting with Congress.”
Pres. Trump is the only leader to ever attempt to take on the world’s narcoterrorists. If they are eliminated, the whole world will benefit – they have destroyed the lives of millions of people, and have degraded the culture, economy, safety and quality of life of so many countries. Let’s end the age of dark, horrible, destructive forces that control many countries and lives – and begin an era of re-birth, positive growth, and cherished lives.
It’s great to see the trend of South/Latin American countries moving towards a conservative alliance – Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, Chile and now Venezuala. The Western hemisphere is rising up against neo-Marxist and communist totalitarian control, which can only be good for the USA. No doubt that Iran, China, Cuba, Brazil, Russia and neo-Marxist Dems in the US are not happy…
“China “anti-stealth” radar fails Venezuela, Taiwan media report. Chinese-made radar failed in Venezuela during the US action on Saturday. The US neutralized Venezuela’s air defenses and took its leader in under 30-minutes. The Chinese-made systems had been billed as the strongest air defense system in South America. But in light of the failure, some have called the radar systems “expensive ornaments.”
“I can’t believe we black bagged a narco dictator without considering all available options first, like paying an NGO $100b to put on queer musical theater productions in Caracas”
“And those odds are probably going to increase given the rapid deployment of troops and military hardware to Europe, which seems likely to end up in the Middle East
Trump said the U.S. would intervene if Iran kills protesters
Tying Venezuela to the drug trade is ludicrous. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves. It’s too easy to see the attraction.
Obviously, the Trump admin doesn’t care about the drug trade. Its why they pardoned drug dealers including the former president of Honduras and the founder of the “Silk Road” — the darknet drug and weapons market.
Nobody bought the fentanyl claim which is why Trump supporters are back tracking on this obvious falsehood. Fentanyl is for the most part manufactured in the US using chemicals imported from China. Mexico is the only other source.
The “best” story I read on fentanyl was an attempt to have Venezuela tied to West African gangs who then shipped it to Europe. Why all that work? China can ship overland or by sea directly to Europe.
Colombian cocaine has been trucked through the rain forest to French Guiana since the 1980s. Initially a trail, its now an unofficial road and cocaine goes from Colombia through the rain forest to French Guiana which is legally a part of the EU and thus planes/ships are not subject to inspection when they arrive in Amsterdam or Marseilles. Cocaine to the US is flown to either Mexico or Bahamas then smuggled in or they use container ships — which are barely inspected anywhere. No Venezuelan involvement is needed in any case.
Yes, 20 years ago, Venezuela nationalised their oil industry. Most oil producing countries have done this in the 1950s and 60s, for example, Saudi Arabia and Norway. In most cases, oil companies will negotiate with the country for rights and shares or joint companies. However, they refused to do that in Venezuela and were encouraged by the US gov’t. This isn’t American property — its Exxon or Shell or BP property. By equating the two, the Trump gov’t has equated corporations and the US gov’ts as one. Venezuela did not steal US property, Venezuela established control over its own resources from foreign corporations. Its like if the US gov’t used “eminent domain” on the Royal Dutch Shell company or BP.
The oil money Venezuela has extracted was/is used to create and maintain social programs for the poor of not only Venezuela but also of countries like Cuba. Drugs were not involved — why start a drug trade when you make more money selling oil. The question has to be asked why can’t Venezuela use their oil in the same manner as Norway?
Tychicus — there are no “narcoterrorists”; that’s a made up word to justify a police state. Even in Mexico the cartels are just violent businessmen. In Venezuela, there’s very little drug trade and very little funding of terrorism — unless funding the Cuban medical system counts as terrorism
And the authoritarians in Iran, China, and Russia loved this type of behaviour. They want to end the rules based international order that has for the most part governed international relations since 1945. Putin especially has been hinting that he wants a world order based on spheres of influence by great powers (which was the world order than ended in 1914). In the past he has offered to respect the Monroe Doctrine (and thus an invasion of Venezuela) in exchange for Russian dominance in the “near abroad” (which includes Ukraine). In fact many analysts think Trump’s support for Putin’s peace terms is based on an unspoken spheres of influence agreement. China of course will see this as an opportunity to assert more influence in Taiwan. Iran has long asserted a sphere of influence in the Shia world — Baharin, Qatar, Yemen as well as more influence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Depending where you go; there are either celebrations or protests. During the Chavez years, a Venezuela friend told me if the press wanted pro or anti Chavez crowd pictures,they just had to go to different Caracas neighbourhoods. The upper middle class hated Chavez but the poor loved him. I’m sure that’s the case now.
The Guardian interviewed people from both sides of the Venezuela dispute — basically saying people are subdued and worried about what comes next, which makes sense. Even if you hated Maduro, the uncertainty would make you nervous.
In all likelihood, the Chinese systems were improperly installed due to corruption. Or those manning the radar sites were improperly trained. Or both. Then again, given this a Taiwan report, the news might be slightly biased.
According to Nigerians, the air strike wiped out some village huts. Even the Nigerian gov’t said they weren’t ISIS but criminal gangs. The conflict is not nearly as simple as the media portrays — its religious but also criminal. Foreign missionaries are often kidnapped not because they are Christian but because criminals think they will fetch a ransom. Highly doubtful it killed 750 people let alone ISIS
Houthis are still fighting. They just stopped bombing Israel. Essentially a US strike fleet was doing Israel a favour.
In the Caribbean, the US bombed 33 fishing boats and killed 112 fisherman. Probably the most expensive kill ratio ever. If they were so sure they were drug boats, they could have captured the boats — they managed to capture an oil tanker without casualties. At least capture some of the boats just to provide evidence. The whole idea these boats were going to Miami is ludicrous — there’s a well established practice of flying cocaine to airfields in Mexico and the Bahamas. Fishing boats are too small and too obvious.
Iran is rebuilding its facilities. And the nuclear material was moved before the strike. Each time Israel or the US bomb Iran, it convinces the regime of need for air defence and nuclear deterrence.
In short, US policy in 2025 has been futile and a waste of money. Trump moved from American First to adventurism abroad.
Finally, and I’ve spent too much time on this, Trump mentioned they didn’t notify Congress because they were of leaks. However, the largest “leaker” of 2025, Hesgeth, was in the room. And the “situation room” was not in the White House basement — which is one of the most secure facilities in the world. Instead it was a Mar a Lago conference room.
They were released a picture of meeting — black curtains were hung around the room, some pulled so tight they became see through, the monitor was set to Tweeter, a phone was unplugged on the table, and in one section the curtain was pulled back so you could see the hallway in the background. What a farce. Mar a Lago is a security nightmare with guests and members wandering through. And I’m sure foreign powers, both friendly and enemy, have people with memberships wandering through there, workers who are compromised, etc etc.
Governor Walz will have a news conference today. Hopefully, he will not be running for office again. Hopefully, no one he wants will get into office here either. I never would have believed our former political party would have done such damage. Like people, there are no perfect political parties, of course. Most people do not even have the knowledge of what the platforms support. One can only pray more people wake up.
Wandering Views 
Well that’s odd Kizzie, because I just checked her X, and her last post was Dec 21st.
Now do I believe Google, or my own eyes?
And the link you provided does not show this either, those are tweets from 2024 you linked.
This search of X shows the commenter is correct.
https://x.com/IlhanMN
LikeLiked by 2 people
Can’t say I’m happy to see it, but I do understand why it was necessary.
https://x.com/i/status/2007338464552071474
“#Breaking: The United States just launched a full scale attack on Venezuela from Air and Sea, report of hundreds of Toma Hawk Cruise Missiles striking dozens of targets in downtown Caracas.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
And for the record, it’s not “downtown,” it’s military facilities.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Chart showing the massive military buildup that President Donald Trump has amassed in the Caribbean to remove socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro from power
This is not regime change. The people of Venezuela already voted for regime change and Maduro is refusing to leave
He is a major destabilizing force in Latin America.”
https://x.com/i/status/2007341326480842919
LikeLiked by 1 person
“FYI, here are the DOJ charges against Maduro and his regime
“For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities. Today’s announcement is focused on rooting out the extensive corruption within the Venezuelan government – a system constructed and controlled to enrich those at the highest levels of the government. The United States will not allow these corrupt Venezuelan officials to use the U.S. banking system to move their illicit proceeds from South America nor further their criminal schemes.”
“Today we announce criminal charges against Nicolás Maduro Moros for running, together with his top lieutenants, a narco-terrorism partnership with the FARC for the past 20 years,” said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman. “The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our charges. As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and wellbeing of our nation. Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon. While Maduro and other cartel members held lofty titles in Venezuela’s political and military leadership, the conduct described in the Indictment wasn’t statecraft or service to the Venezuelan people. As alleged, the defendants betrayed the Venezuelan people and corrupted Venezuelan institutions to line their pockets with drug money.”
https://x.com/i/status/2007423555781173453
LikeLiked by 1 person
“All those complaining this was unlawful, George HW Bush did exactly the same thing in Operation Just Cause in Panama — all without an AUMF from Congress. Ronald Reagan also invaded Grenada without an AUMF. So spare me the TDS about Trump trampling the Constitution and international law.”
https://x.com/i/status/2007413052350578755
LikeLiked by 1 person
“The president offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States. Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says.
Kudos to our brave special operators who pulled off a truly impressive operation”
https://x.com/i/status/2007447083909841398
LikeLiked by 1 person
Quick points
its not about drugs; Trump just pardoned the ex-president of Honduras for similar charges
It’s about oil and the return of the nationalised oil fields to corporate control. War for oil and corporations.
On the surface level, it’s similar to Grenada and Panama — both of those operations were also against international law and not well supported in the US. Hence Bush Jr went to Congress and the UN when it came to Iraq.
From what I can tell, the scale is far larger than Panama and Grenada. And as Trump has said the US will occupy Venezuela, the force needed will be larger — eventually he will need to go to Congress. On a practical level, it resembles Iraq more than Panama especially if occupation is prolonged.
hrw
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AJ – It appears that Omar may have two X accounts, with the one I shared being the more updated one. (And no, I did not merely trust Google, I went to the source, as one should.) It begins with a pinned post from 2024, but after that, there are posts from January 1 and going back through December. (I did not look further back.)
https://x.com/Ilhan
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Kizzie,
Your link from last night does not show recent posts, the most recent at your link was 2024.
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Did you look below that pinned one from 2024? I am seeing posts from Jan. 1, Dec. 31, 30, etc., including one on the 25th, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, and continuing back further.
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Looking closer, wondering what the difference might be, I see that the X account that I shared says it is managed by her staff, although it does look like she personally posts on it.
Even so, looking at the other one, from as far as I can see after scrolling down quite a bit, it looks like Omar does not tweet very often on that one anyway, with most of the posts being from the late 20-teens to early 2020s. That could account for her not tweeting on that account for a while.
Correlation does not necessarily equal causation.
LikeLike
So glad this lying fool isn’t president.
https://x.com/i/status/2007815570171875457
“In January, just before they left office, the Biden and Kamala offered $25 million for information leading to Maduro’s arrest. Now Kamala is outraged Maduro was arrested. These people are so dumb it hurts my brain.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
The days of being ruled by a senile, useless fool are over.
https://x.com/i/status/2007840714575536279
“You see a lot claims that Venezuela has nothing to do with drugs because most of the fentanyl comes from elsewhere. I want to address this:
First off, fentanyl isn’t the only drug in the world and there is still fentanyl coming from Venezuela (or at least there was).
Second, cocaine, which is the main drug trafficked out of Venezuela, is a profit center for all of the Latin America cartels. If you cut out the money from cocaine (or even reduce it) you substantially weaken the cartels overall. Also, cocaine is bad too!
Third, yes, a lot of fentanyl is coming out of Mexico. That continues to be a focus of our policy in Mexico and is a reason why President Trump shut the border on day one.
Fourth, I see a lot of criticism about oil. About 20 years ago, Venezuela expropriated American oil property and until recently used that stolen property to get rich and fund their narcoterrorist activities. I understand the anxiety over the use of military force, but are we just supposed to allow a communist to steal our stuff in our hemisphere and do nothing? Great powers don’t act like that.
The United States, thanks to President Trump’s leadership, is a great power again. Everyone should take note.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Omar’s dirty little fingers are all over this Kizzie, regardless of her X feed, and who runs it. It was Omar who introduced the legislation and Act that allowed this fraud. She is the one who orchestrated the conditions that allowed the fraud, and she did it knowing full well what was being done with it.
She is directly tied to this.
https://x.com/i/status/2001996685443244127
“Tim Walz, Ilhan Omar, and Keith Ellison have all been directly tied to Somali fraud ring”
—-
https://x.com/i/status/1997337639997857945
LikeLiked by 2 people
“Please find an update from my dear friend and colleague, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson. He remains in our prayers:”
“I wanted to share a brief health update. I recently underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor and am now recovering. I’m doing well and hopeful as I move forward.
Thank you for the many messages of support and prayers—they truly mean more than I can say. As I focus on recovery, I may not be able to respond to everyone, but please know how grateful I am.”
— Victor Davis Hanson”
https://x.com/i/status/2007601668163252291
This was posted by Condoleezza Rice.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Re: 1:18. My original comment had nothing to do with that. It was just a peripheral comment about her posting on X.
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Huh, well that’s odd….. 🤔
https://x.com/i/status/2007801594352726413
“For some reason the liberal media’s not showing the images of Venezuelans in the street celebrating the removal of Maduro”
https://x.com/i/status/2007879853358420358
“Venezuela population Celebrating Dictator Maduro’s downfall/capture. But here in NYC, loony left is protesting Maduro’s arrest.🤔I guess they know better than the “actual” people of Venezuela?😏As always, democrats on the criminal’s side.”
—
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sorry to hear about Victor Davis Hanson.
LikeLiked by 1 person
As with Ukraine, Elon steps up for the people of Venezuela.
https://x.com/i/status/2007680660446892528
“Starlink is providing free broadband service to the people of Venezuela through February 3, ensuring continued connectivity.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Kaine is either totally unqualified for his position and totally ignorant of how govt works, or he knows it and chooses to lie anyway. Neither are a good look.
Reality, according to a constitutional scholar.
https://x.com/i/status/2007884771209187539
“Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va) told Fox that “the Constitution does not give the President the right to initiate military action.” That is entirely incorrect. The Constitution does not give a president the right to declare war. However, presidents are allowed to use military forces without such a declaration…”
—
“…Democratic presidents routinely launched attacks in other countries without any objection from Sen. Kaine. Obama not only killed an American citizen not charge with any crime but attacked Libya’s capital and attacked its military to cause a regime change without consulting with Congress.”
LikeLiked by 3 people
Pres. Trump is the only leader to ever attempt to take on the world’s narcoterrorists. If they are eliminated, the whole world will benefit – they have destroyed the lives of millions of people, and have degraded the culture, economy, safety and quality of life of so many countries. Let’s end the age of dark, horrible, destructive forces that control many countries and lives – and begin an era of re-birth, positive growth, and cherished lives.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s great to see the trend of South/Latin American countries moving towards a conservative alliance – Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, Chile and now Venezuala. The Western hemisphere is rising up against neo-Marxist and communist totalitarian control, which can only be good for the USA. No doubt that Iran, China, Cuba, Brazil, Russia and neo-Marxist Dems in the US are not happy…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Is it true that Kamala has already signed up for the Venezuelan primaries? 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
“Venezuelans throw a massive party in Buenos Aires, Argentina following the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro.
There are approximately 220,000 Venezuelans living in Argentina.
Almost all have migrated to Argentina over the past decade due to the Venezuelan refugee crisis, where 8 million people fled the country.”
https://x.com/i/status/2007834764640960525
Dems are of course, against sending those here illegally back to Venezuela. They need their illegal votes.
LikeLiked by 2 people
“China “anti-stealth” radar fails Venezuela, Taiwan media report. Chinese-made radar failed in Venezuela during the US action on Saturday. The US neutralized Venezuela’s air defenses and took its leader in under 30-minutes. The Chinese-made systems had been billed as the strongest air defense system in South America. But in light of the failure, some have called the radar systems “expensive ornaments.”
https://x.com/i/status/2007762391447351543
LikeLiked by 2 people
The scammers are still trying to scam. It’s almost laughable.
https://x.com/i/status/2007940190220808349
“Minneapolis Craigslist post in search of child actors for daycare site where funding was “cruelly ripped away without cause.”
“To help hurry this state vetting process, we are looking to hire 20 child actors for 3 days while state is present on site.”
$1,500/day”
Link to post⬇️”
LikeLiked by 1 person
The improvement is obvious. Generals are politicians. Colonels are the war fighters.
https://x.com/i/status/2007946832694169826
“Only a crackhead would argue that Pete Hegseth isn’t outperforming all of his predecessors:
Strikes in Nigeria that eliminated 750 ISIS fighters. Zero American casualties.
Strikes on Houthis, they agreed to a ceasefire. Zero American casualties.
Strikes on 33 drug boats and 112 narcoterrorists killed. Zero American casualties.
Strikes that disabled Iran’s nuclear facilities. Zero American casualties.
Strikes on Caracas; narcoterrorist president and wife captured, dozens in his inner circle gone. Zero American casualties.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
“I can’t believe we black bagged a narco dictator without considering all available options first, like paying an NGO $100b to put on queer musical theater productions in Caracas”
https://x.com/i/status/2007474172599869951
LikeLiked by 2 people
“And those odds are probably going to increase given the rapid deployment of troops and military hardware to Europe, which seems likely to end up in the Middle East
Trump said the U.S. would intervene if Iran kills protesters
Iran is killing protesters
What comes next should not be a surprise”
https://x.com/i/status/2007934889572884778
—
https://x.com/i/status/2007921484069790148
“Iran enters its 8th night of national protests against the regime, and armed citizens have now taken to the streets.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
1:10 pm post
Tying Venezuela to the drug trade is ludicrous. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves. It’s too easy to see the attraction.
Obviously, the Trump admin doesn’t care about the drug trade. Its why they pardoned drug dealers including the former president of Honduras and the founder of the “Silk Road” — the darknet drug and weapons market.
Nobody bought the fentanyl claim which is why Trump supporters are back tracking on this obvious falsehood. Fentanyl is for the most part manufactured in the US using chemicals imported from China. Mexico is the only other source.
The “best” story I read on fentanyl was an attempt to have Venezuela tied to West African gangs who then shipped it to Europe. Why all that work? China can ship overland or by sea directly to Europe.
Colombian cocaine has been trucked through the rain forest to French Guiana since the 1980s. Initially a trail, its now an unofficial road and cocaine goes from Colombia through the rain forest to French Guiana which is legally a part of the EU and thus planes/ships are not subject to inspection when they arrive in Amsterdam or Marseilles. Cocaine to the US is flown to either Mexico or Bahamas then smuggled in or they use container ships — which are barely inspected anywhere. No Venezuelan involvement is needed in any case.
Yes, 20 years ago, Venezuela nationalised their oil industry. Most oil producing countries have done this in the 1950s and 60s, for example, Saudi Arabia and Norway. In most cases, oil companies will negotiate with the country for rights and shares or joint companies. However, they refused to do that in Venezuela and were encouraged by the US gov’t. This isn’t American property — its Exxon or Shell or BP property. By equating the two, the Trump gov’t has equated corporations and the US gov’ts as one. Venezuela did not steal US property, Venezuela established control over its own resources from foreign corporations. Its like if the US gov’t used “eminent domain” on the Royal Dutch Shell company or BP.
The oil money Venezuela has extracted was/is used to create and maintain social programs for the poor of not only Venezuela but also of countries like Cuba. Drugs were not involved — why start a drug trade when you make more money selling oil. The question has to be asked why can’t Venezuela use their oil in the same manner as Norway?
hrw
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Tychicus — there are no “narcoterrorists”; that’s a made up word to justify a police state. Even in Mexico the cartels are just violent businessmen. In Venezuela, there’s very little drug trade and very little funding of terrorism — unless funding the Cuban medical system counts as terrorism
And the authoritarians in Iran, China, and Russia loved this type of behaviour. They want to end the rules based international order that has for the most part governed international relations since 1945. Putin especially has been hinting that he wants a world order based on spheres of influence by great powers (which was the world order than ended in 1914). In the past he has offered to respect the Monroe Doctrine (and thus an invasion of Venezuela) in exchange for Russian dominance in the “near abroad” (which includes Ukraine). In fact many analysts think Trump’s support for Putin’s peace terms is based on an unspoken spheres of influence agreement. China of course will see this as an opportunity to assert more influence in Taiwan. Iran has long asserted a sphere of influence in the Shia world — Baharin, Qatar, Yemen as well as more influence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Depending where you go; there are either celebrations or protests. During the Chavez years, a Venezuela friend told me if the press wanted pro or anti Chavez crowd pictures,they just had to go to different Caracas neighbourhoods. The upper middle class hated Chavez but the poor loved him. I’m sure that’s the case now.
The Guardian interviewed people from both sides of the Venezuela dispute — basically saying people are subdued and worried about what comes next, which makes sense. Even if you hated Maduro, the uncertainty would make you nervous.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/04/few-in-caracas-are-celebrating-as-they-face-an-uncertain-post-maduro-future
hrw
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In all likelihood, the Chinese systems were improperly installed due to corruption. Or those manning the radar sites were improperly trained. Or both. Then again, given this a Taiwan report, the news might be slightly biased.
According to Nigerians, the air strike wiped out some village huts. Even the Nigerian gov’t said they weren’t ISIS but criminal gangs. The conflict is not nearly as simple as the media portrays — its religious but also criminal. Foreign missionaries are often kidnapped not because they are Christian but because criminals think they will fetch a ransom. Highly doubtful it killed 750 people let alone ISIS
Houthis are still fighting. They just stopped bombing Israel. Essentially a US strike fleet was doing Israel a favour.
In the Caribbean, the US bombed 33 fishing boats and killed 112 fisherman. Probably the most expensive kill ratio ever. If they were so sure they were drug boats, they could have captured the boats — they managed to capture an oil tanker without casualties. At least capture some of the boats just to provide evidence. The whole idea these boats were going to Miami is ludicrous — there’s a well established practice of flying cocaine to airfields in Mexico and the Bahamas. Fishing boats are too small and too obvious.
Iran is rebuilding its facilities. And the nuclear material was moved before the strike. Each time Israel or the US bomb Iran, it convinces the regime of need for air defence and nuclear deterrence.
In short, US policy in 2025 has been futile and a waste of money. Trump moved from American First to adventurism abroad.
hrw
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Finally, and I’ve spent too much time on this, Trump mentioned they didn’t notify Congress because they were of leaks. However, the largest “leaker” of 2025, Hesgeth, was in the room. And the “situation room” was not in the White House basement — which is one of the most secure facilities in the world. Instead it was a Mar a Lago conference room.
They were released a picture of meeting — black curtains were hung around the room, some pulled so tight they became see through, the monitor was set to Tweeter, a phone was unplugged on the table, and in one section the curtain was pulled back so you could see the hallway in the background. What a farce. Mar a Lago is a security nightmare with guests and members wandering through. And I’m sure foreign powers, both friendly and enemy, have people with memberships wandering through there, workers who are compromised, etc etc.
hrw
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hrw: Of course there are narcoterrorists, which is why this US administration has taken the fight to them.
Cuba is next, which could happen quite naturally b/c they were so dependent on Venezuelan oil. These are certainly not good days for you socialists. 😉
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Governor Walz will have a news conference today. Hopefully, he will not be running for office again. Hopefully, no one he wants will get into office here either. I never would have believed our former political party would have done such damage. Like people, there are no perfect political parties, of course. Most people do not even have the knowledge of what the platforms support. One can only pray more people wake up.
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