US STRIKES VENEZUELA / CAPTURES MADURO

[superrific]

JD Vance continues to embarrass himself and his alma mater. Of course, since he doesn't respect territorial sovereignty, surely he will not object to being extradited to Venezuela, as justice cannot be evaded just by sitting in a palace in DC.

 

[dukeman92]

“This incredible thing last night... We have to do it again [in other countries]. We can do it again, too. Nobody can stop us."

 

[UNCatTech]

Why cant y’all simply celebrate this “win” for the USA? This hurts China and may be the final nail in the coffin for the dictatorships in Iran and Cuba?

Plus, the Venezuelans sure seem happy today.

So us taking out the leader of a sovereign nation without cause or provocation is a win? We are not the worlds police. I thought trump was supposedly keeping us out of everyone else's business and other people's wars?

 

[JCTarheel82]

FUCKING. KILL. ME.

"We are currently clean on OPSEC."

 

[UNCatTech]

Really? We've been talking about the bloated defense budget and the republicans keep telling us it's necessary.

 

[UNCatTech]

note to self: write tampermonkey script called super-duper ignore which removes post where super ignored posters are referenced since superignore only removes quoted conversations.

I thought that super ignore blocked the replies to ignored content also.

 

[JCTarheel82]

“This incredible thing last night... We have to do it again [in other countries]. We can do it again, too. Nobody can stop us."

Trump basically bragging about how he annexes other sovereign states so much better than Putin.

 

[farce©]

I thought that super ignore blocked the replies to ignored content also.

He doesn’t want to see posts that mention posters he has on super ignore.

 

[BlooVooDoo]

It’s a good thing that Maduro has departed Caracas; he wrecked his country, stole elections, facilitated the drug trade, flooded the hemisphere with millions of refugees, and aligned his regime with enemies of the United States This is a bad day for Cuba, China, Russia, and Iran, which were in cahoots with Maduro and have reason to fear U.S. power. Their instrument for influence in the Western Hemisphere via Venezuela is out of power and out of luck, sitting in a U.S. jail cell.

Russia’s instrument of influence in the Western hemisphere is tweeting from a toilet in Palm Beach.

 

[UNCatTech]

FYI that’s a Twitter window on the screen behind them

The two idiots with their arms crossed are just posing for a picture. Hedsuck is playing solitary and drump is telling them to look like they care when they pose.

 

[nycfan]

“This incredible thing last night... We have to do it again [in other countries]. We can do it again, too. Nobody can stop us."

Here’s the thing. If this works out in the near term half as well as it did in the immediate term, then there are a lot of strategic opportunities, particularly in a teetering Cuba.

BUT an immediate term success like this is also accelerant for a narcissist like Trump and actions like toppling the Castro/communist regime in an economically collapsing Cuba still require careful planning and consideration.

Plus there is the whole question of this claim that America is going to run Venezuela indefinitely and all the ways that can unravel logistically and politically.

 

[TarSpiel]

The Venezuelians who are losing oil money over this are not going to take it lying down.

I'd expect any opposition group to start stirring up some crap pretty soon.

 

[korgguy1971]

Is that an Oculus?

 

[Mundial]

The complexities of regime change in Cuba are vastly greater than Venezuela and I would be willing to bet that even in Venezuela the support of the people for this action is less than what is being portrayed in the media. Recall that Iraqis were celebrating all over that country when we overthrew Saddam and look how quickly that turned for US forces.

Also, recall:

Powell denies using the term "pottery barn rule", but stated:

It is said that I used the "Pottery Barn rule." I never did it; [Thomas] Friedman did it ... But what I did say ... [is that] once you break it, you are going to own it, and we're going to be responsible for 26 million people standing there looking at us. And it's going to suck up a good 40 to 50 percent of the Army for years. And it's going to take all the oxygen out of the political environment ..."<a href="You break it, you buy it - Wikipedia"><span>[</span>8<span>]</span></a>

 

[nycfan]

 

[gtyellowjacket]

The most analogous to this situation would be Noriega. Lots of problems in Panama before and after Noriega, but in general, that regime change was not disastrous.

I think Panama is the closest. Grenada before it was also similar and has been fairly successful at regime change if the measure is a stable democracy.

Somewhat counterintuitive on both of those "successful" regime changes; the US was fairly hands off after the initial invasion. They went in with troops for a month or two, and then pulled out and let the locals work it out. Compare that to Iraq and Afghanistan and the results are pretty striking.

 

[nycfan]

 

[Ramrouser]

What a great day. Today may be a Berlin Wall moment for this Hemisphere. If the US can ally with the country with the world’s largest oil reserves…oh boy!

 

[mpaer]

I think Panama is the closest. Grenada before it was also similar and has been fairly successful at regime change if the measure is a stable democracy.

Somewhat counterintuitive on both of those "successful" regime changes; the US was fairly hands off after the initial invasion. They went in with troops for a month or two, and then pulled out and let the locals work it out. Compare that to Iraq and Afghanistan and the results are pretty striking.

Grenada was a great US-Britain victory
They likely had a total defense ability on par with Montana's National guard-or maybe the Apex police Dept?

 

[ChapelHillSooner]

Is this the Sadaam statue toppling over moment.

While that was in Iraq, the camera angles were chosen to make it look far more than it was.