Y'know, the way the Bushies got stuck into Iraq to unite us, not divide us.
Kaplan had the usual rebuttal, but...
I know these guy could do this. Trump, Pompeo, Bolton...they're all stupid and credulous enough.
But...would they? With the flaming-dumpster example of Iraq and Syria in their faces? (Okay, well, Bolton things Iraq was a treat, but he's dumber than a box of fucking hammers, so there's that).
Here's my thought; I'll take the under on "Trump Wags the Venezuelan Dog".
Update 1/29: So either The Mustache of Idiocy really IS an OPSEC idiot (given the picture below - note that the second line on the yellow pad says "5,000 troops to Colombia") or he's really playing 12th Dimension Chess, or this is an just attempt to troll the fakenewsmedia. With these gomers, who knows?
Maybe. But I think they will stick to sanctions.
ReplyDeleteAnd BTW the new sanctions just imposed on Venezuela are only hurting CITGO, which is owned by the Maduro government. Also hurting will be CITGO's 5300 gas stations that are owned independently by small businessmen. But perhaps that is by design. It gives an edge to Russian Rosneft to buy CITGO and move into the American market. Or perhaps the edge goes to ExxonMobil, they still have a sore dupka from 2007 when Venezuela expropriated their assets, which they claim were worth $12-Billion.
China gets most of the rest of Venezuelan crude.
ExxonMobil and Maduro are also dueling over oilfields off the coast of Guyana. Last month the Venezuelan Navy attempted the boarding of a research vessel, 'Ramform Tethys', that was doing seismic surveys for Exxon. Venezuela has claimed parts of Guyana and the offshore waters for over a hundred years.
Deletehttps://static.vesselfinder.net/ship-photo/9676888-311000523-8564ab64a0a51c3091792ff08096740d/1
But I understand even Guiado, Trump's pick for Venezuelan President, believes those offhore oilfields were stolen by Guyana's former colonial masters, the British. So replacing Maduro with Guiado would not change existing claims.
The House would not pay for such a political adventure.
ReplyDeleteMy concern is that these dopes will try some sort of “shock and awe”; hit Caracas from a carrier and put a MEU over the shore, hand the capital to their bobos, and leave a bigger mess than they found.
ReplyDeleteDon’t get me wrong. Maduro is a trainwreck. But his opponents are what produced Chaves in the first place. This is a classic “no good option” situation that a smart policy team would do no more than edge around. But we’ve got The Mustache of Idiocy “advising” our Orange Fool. So...
They won't put troops on the ground. May do airstikes in support of Guaido if it comes to a civil war. But so far, knock on wood, that has not happened.
ReplyDeleteThe mouse-tashe probably is an interdimensional tourist but got stuck somewhere between the warp and woof. His attempt to play multi-dimensional games seems to have backfired.
ReplyDeleteTed Lieu, on the house Judiciary committee, trolled Bolton with the following tweet:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DyHOjUFXgAIM6y_.jpg
That's pretty hilarious.
DeleteI don't call him the Mustache of Idiocy for nothing; Bolton reminds me of a cartoon pit bull, all mouth and attitude. He's Clausewitz' fourth type of officer, aggressive and stupid, that ol' Karl recommended be shot immediately because of the threat to intelligent operations they represented.
Bolton uses his prominent office to stir up the pot with the intentional scribbling.
ReplyDeleteAnd Colombia is not amused.
BTW, look who's the new special envoy
ReplyDeletehttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/26/elliott-abrams-venezuela-us-special-envoy
"Abrams is widely remembered in Central America, but particularly from his time in the Reagan administration, when he tried to whitewash a massacre of a thousand men, women and children by US-funded death squads in El Salvador, when he was assistant secretary of state for human rights.
He shrugged off the reports as communist propaganda, and insisted: “The administration’s record in El Salvador is one of fabulous achievement.”"
Yeah...I saw that and my first thought was “Abrams’? Seriously? That old Iran-Contra crook?”
ReplyDeleteMy second was “Christ! How the hell is he not dead yet?”