The Trump administration continues to insist that Venezuela’s leftist government poses a serious national security threat. United States officials especially assert that Nicolas Maduro’s regime is deeply involved in the illegal drug trade coming into the United States, including the surge in fentanyl in recent years. Indeed, Trump and his associates maintain that Venezuela’s government is little more than a disguised drug cartel. Washington has invoked the argument to justify an escalating series of attacks on small boats, including fishing vessels, in waters near that country.
Contending that illegal drug trafficking constitutes a national security threat sufficiently serious enough to warrant using the US military against a sovereign country is a dubious argument. Moreover, Venezuela is not a major player in the fentanyl trade.
Unfortunately, threat inflation is nothing new. Three pro-war administrations managed to obtain sufficient support from Congress and the public for military action against tiny, distant North Vietnam, based on the absurd notion that it posed a security threat to the United States. Several recent White House occupants have engaged in similar threat inflation, with respect, to justify wars against designated US adversaries.
Literally the only thing that matters is what Fox News and MAGA influencers tell their constituients to drum up support. And with how Venezuela is demonized, they’re already halfway there.
I don’t even know who this article is for. No one searching for this. No one who knows how to use a web browser (as opposed to just scrolling apps) is going to read this. No policymaker wants to go to war with Venezuela because they think its a threat, and if they do they’re way beyond reading and trusting the National Security Journal.