Who asked for a war for Christmas?
”We have met the enemy and he is us.”
I had thought we were past this. Several weeks ago, it seemed like we were on the brink of war with Venezuela. Then the USS Gerald Ford carrier battle group left the area and tensions eased somewhat.
But now, just when you thought it was safe to go back into the Caribbean, they’re baa-aack (And yes, I’m aware that I’m mixing my horror movie metaphors.)
Not only is the Ford back on station, Trump posted over the weekend that Venezuela airspace should be considered closed “in its entirety.” Trump’s online announcement came a few days after a warning by the FAA that GPS interference and “increasing Venezuela military readiness” presented potential hazards to civil aviation in the region. (Never mind that Trump’s provocations are why Venezuela is readying itself.) Many airlines cancelled flights after the announcement, to Venezuela’s consternation.
Trump’s announcement is particularly concerning for two reasons. First, shutting down airspace to civil flights is a potential preliminary step towards military action, albeit one that foregoes the element of surprise. Second, interfering with or blockading lawful air transportation is itself an act of war. By telling the world that Venezuelan airspace is closed, Trump is already embroiling America in an utterly unnecessary war of aggression even if no shots have been fired at the Venezuelan military yet.
But shots have been fired. The US has attacked numerous alleged drug boats, and in at least one instance, has launched a second strike to finish off survivors. The Secretary of Defense (the War Department still does not officially exist) recently tweeted a picture of a cartoon turtle blowing up “Narco Terrorists” (another made-up term) with the caption, “For your Christmas wish list.”
Leaving aside the fact that extrajudicial killings are about as far from the spirit of Christ as you can get (but apparently not from Christian Nationalism), Hegseth and Trump seem to think that the deepening military crisis is funny. Across party lines, Americans disagree and are not with the Administration on the brewing war.
As Steve Berman described, killing defenseless sailors is both immoral and unlawful. In both World Wars, submarine and ship crews murdering (because that’s what it really is) the survivors of sinking ships was considered a war crime and was used as fodder for propaganda against the barbarity of the Germans and Japanese, yet what we are doing now is directly analogous.
We are becoming the bad guys. As Pogo the Possum was wont to say, “”We have met the enemy and he is us.”
To a lot of people, that’s not a revelation. Since WWII, we have engaged in some questionable and unpopular conflicts, but I think our motives have always been good, even when our actions weren’t.
Not here.
There is no justification for war against Venezuela. Very little fentanyl comes through Venezuela and the majority of the cocaine that reaches the US comes through Colombia. Unlike Saddam Hussein and Ho Chi Minh, Maduro is not invading his neighbors. In fact, Maduro has sought a peaceful solution and been ignored by Trump. There is no Venezuelan WMD program, but who could blame them for starting one if they survive the next three years? Far from clamoring for liberation, Venezuelan civilians are preparing to take up arms against American invaders.
I’m not a pacifist. I’m not a non-interventionist. I do think the US has a moral duty to use its might to spread democracy and human rights where we can do so with a reasonable chance of success.
That’s not what is happening here. There is no coherent reason for why we are about to go to war with Venezuela. It makes even less sense than Putin’s invasion of Ukraine since we have no historical ties with Venezuela. The only plausible explanation is that Trump sees Venezuela as part of his sphere of influence and is thus fair game. Oh, and Venezuela has oil.
It’s literal imperialism.
Venezuela is going to be different than any other war America has fought. It will be a war of naked aggression. Even the Indian wars were made inevitable by the close proximity of two very different cultures. We are going out of our way to target Venezuela.
I don’t know when the war will start in earnest, but it is becoming ever more apparent that Trump is not going to forget about Venezuela. When it starts, it will be the most stupid and avoidable war in our history. No one asked for this war. Trump campaigned on peace and an end to “forever wars.”
What we about to - what we are doing now - is wrong. Americans need to make it known that we won’t support a stupid and unnecessary war, but we also need to acknowledge that we probably won’t be able to stop it. At this point, Trump thinks he can do anything and so far, Congress has let him.
I recently came across the story of AJ Muste, an activist who opposed the Vietnam War. At one point, a reporter asked, “Do you really think you are going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone at night in front of the White House with a candle?”
Muste answered, “I don’t do this to change the country. I do this so the country won’t change me.”
That’s key for those of us who oppose Trump’s military (and other) misadventures. It’s not just about the policy outcomes (although we should work towards those as well), it’s about our own consciences and being able to live with ourselves. It’s about knowing we stood up for what was right.
Edmund Burke probably never said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” but that doesn’t make the sentiment any less true. Right now, there isn’t a lot that we can do to stop this looming war, but we should do what we can.
A FINAL WORD As a footnote, I want to add that if/when the war starts, we should not take out our frustrations on individual military members. They did not sign up with this war in mind, and many probably oppose it. Nevertheless, low-ranking members lack the legal standing to disobey orders that have been deemed lawful by military lawyers. When individual soldiers are placed in a combat zone, politics quickly becomes secondary to survival.
The real pushback should come from Trump’s cabinet (which is unfortunately filled with yes-men), Congress (which is spineless), and top military brass. Maybe that’s going on behind the scenes right now. Maybe that’s why the war hasn’t started already.
If American soldiers are thrust into a bad war, if they can’t stay out of the fight, they can at least act honorably and within the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the military Code of Conduct, which states in part, “I will never forget that I am an American fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free.”
I think that most American soldiers will behave honorably, even if thrust into a dishonorable war.
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I believe there's a breaking point for Congress. First, Trump is a lame-duck, so his coattails are non-existent. Second, his threats and bark only work in certain places, like GA-14 where MTG would rather resign than deal with MAGA against her. Third, the chance something "bad" like violence against public officials, will occur (by MAGA), is high, and one event could be a trigger to move Congress to act. Fourth, an unpopular war by a president who promised to get us out of wars given the other points, is plenty of reason to motivate Congress to clip the executive's wings. Fifth, Trump will turn on Hegseth if he believes Congress is about to act, to protect himself.
If it is legitimate to destroy a drug running boat with a missile it is legitimate to finish the job if the first missile fails to sink the boat. The US Coast Guard requires all ships/boats going to sea to have at a minimum a readily inflatable life raft for use in case the boat is sinking or catches fire. This requirement is simply there because of good seamanship. These life rafts can be inflated in about 30 seconds. If the drug boats lacked the life raft it is not the responsibility of the initial mission to change the goal to accommodate this fact. That a couple of sailors were clinging to the still floating wreckage is immaterial. If they had abandoned the drug boat and were killed while in a life boat a real war crime case could be made and I would support it. As it stands now the facts don’t support it so this is simply more fodder in the “Get Trump” narrative.