Trump Saber Rattles on Venezuela
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
Like his predecessors, Trump was co-opted straightaway in office into being the latest in a long line of US warrior presidents - waging war on humanity at home and abroad.
Candidate Trump said “(w)e will stop racing to topple foreign (governments) that we know nothing about, that we shouldn’t be involved with.”
“I was against (Middle East wars). And I was against (them) very early. And we shouldn’t have been in there. And I think it is probably perhaps the worst mistake we have ever made.”
He called Afghanistan and Libya wars mistakes, after supporting them earlier. At the same time, he said failure to seize Iraq’s oil fields was poor judgment. “In the old days when we won a war, to the victor go the spoils,” he blustered.
He complained about wasting trillions of dollars, turning the Middle East into a mess, instead of using the funds to rebuild America. “(W)e don’t have the money because it’s been squandered on so many (wrong) ideas,” he said.
He was silent throughout the campaign and as president about the illegality of US wars – preemptively attacking one nation after another threatening no one.
Like the Clintons, Bush/Cheney and Obama, Trump disgraces the office he holds, a dirty politician like virtually all others in Washington, nary a profile in courage in the nation’s capital.
Pretenders abound, few ever the real thing, believing governance is all about serving everyone equitable, supporting world peace, denouncing wars of aggression.
We the people for Trump and rest of Washington’s criminal class is the nation’s military, industrial, security complex, Wall Street, Big Oil, other corporate favorites, billionaires and millionaires.
The vast majority of Americans and others everywhere are excluded, including sovereign independent governments and their leadership refusing to bend to the imperial state’s will, targeted for regime change like Venezuela.
Sunday on CBS News’ Face the Nation, Trump repeated his customary litany of Big Lies in response to questions, including falsely taking credit for eliminating most ISIS jihadists the US supports - Syrian and Hezbollah forces, greatly aided by Russian airpower, responsible for combatting them effectively.
Asked if he’d intervene militarily in Venezuela, he said “certainly it’s something that’s…an option.” Polls show the vast majority of Venezuelans oppose US sanctions and military intervention.
Asked if he’d negotiate with Maduro, he said “I’ve turned down (his request) because we’re very far along in the process” he failed to call what it is - a flagrantly illegal coup attempt to topple a sovereign government and its leadership.
He disgracefully called what’s ongoing “democracy in action.” His regime, Obama, Bush/Cheney, and the Clintons, along with the CIA and other imperial agencies are responsible for killing nations to own them - failing time and again to accomplish much beyond mass slaughter and destruction, US specialties.
Aggression takes various forms, waged with the same objectives in mind, to colonize other nations, loot their resources, and exploit their people, the human toll of no consequence.
The US hasn’t won a war against another nation since imperial Japan surrendered in September 1945. Can Venezuela survive Washington’s predations?
Will its military continue to support the sovereign state and Maduro’s legitimacy over the Trump regime’s aim to destroy them? Will enough Venezuelans rally in defense of the nation and social democracy against the US attempt to colonize the country?
Against all odds, the Taliban in Afghanistan for over 17 years and Syria for nearly half that time prevented the US from conquering their countries.
Venezuela under Chavez and Maduro remained sovereign and independent for the past 20 years - despite US aims to topple their governments.
If the will to resist remains strong, perhaps Bolivarian social democracy will prevail over the predations of imperial America, no matter the long odds.
I’m mindful of anthropologist Margaret Mead’s inspiring statement about “(n)ever doubt(ing) that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
It’s up to Venezuelans to preserve and protect their social democracy, persevering to overcome devastating US economic, financial and sanctions war, along with the risk of things turning hot.
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My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
