“I’m not going to rule out a military option,” Mr. Trump told reporters when asked about the situation in the South American country. “Venezuela is a mess. We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary,” he said.
The remarks came a day after President Nicolás Maduro said in a speech to the newly formed constituent assembly that he wanted to speak with Mr. Trump by phone or meet him when he visits the U.S. next month for the United Nations General Assembly.... But Mr. Maduro also reiterated his criticism of Mr. Trump as the leader of an “imperial power,” calling him a threat to the global order....
August 11, 2017
"President Donald Trump warned of possible military action in Venezuela..."
The WSJ reports (in an article I was able to reach without a subscription (via Drudge)):
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Somehow, 'not ruling out' does not equate with 'warns of', IMO. We'd be idiots to rule out any military option anywhere.
Just when things were going so well for Trump what with the giant chicken and all he shoots off his mouth and gives Maduro ammunition for his anti-US screeds. He really is his own worst enemy. If Trump wants to do something constructive point out the the Venezuelans are getting what they voted for. And need to.
WAPO:
""…We're all over the world, and we have troops all over the world in places that are very, very far away. Venezuela is not very far away, and the people are suffering, and they're dying. We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary."
When asked by a reporter whether this military option would be led by the United States, Trump responded: “We don't talk about it, but a military operation, a military option is certainly something that we could pursue.”"
"IMO. We'd be idiots to rule out any military option anywhere."
Especially re Canada. Those folks seem annoying, and socialist. And really close!
I wouldn't completely rule out a military option in Canada.
A better idea would be to teach the Venezuelans about fracking.
The Godfather said...A better idea would be to teach the Venezuelans about fracking.
There really is no market for their acrid sludge. Maybe their gas is sweeter.
Make Venezuela Great Again.
More nation building, something we are terrible at as a country.
Good move. Trump strikes while the iron is hot to restore freedom to a good country from Joke Communist Dictator installed by Obama's International Gang of Thieves.
Do it for Aruba.
Leftists must love that dictator for life Maduro.
At some point you have to back your threats with action or no one will take you seriously.
Maduro will not come to NYC this year. If he leaves, he will never be allowed back in.
Disagree with Trump's statement here. It only feeds the "hated Yankee invader" narrative and that gives Maduro a demon to campaign against.
"Make Venezuela Great Again."
I'm not a Spanish speaker, but wouldn't that be: VAHRBDV?
Vuelve a Hacer República Bolivariana de Venezuela
دوباره ایران را بزرگ کن
다시 북쪽으로 나아 간다.
This democracy spreading is gonna require small fonts re printing catch phrases on hats.
More nonsense from from the Commander in Chief. Venezuela is a disaster but so are quite a few regimes around the world. What possible "military option" is there for what's going on in Venezuela?
At least the free-Canada military/hat-printing operation will be much easier than those for Venezuela, Iran and NK.
MCGA is easy to fit on a cap.
Easier than that, PB! Just MCG.
What a disgusting pile of fetid pus
Really most of the credit for spreading worldwide freedom should go to Walker.
As soon as that Foxconn plant is up and running, we can get them to print the "make great" hats that will be needed to free the oppressed people of the world.
BTW, it'd be interesting to see if the new Foxconn plant will use employee-suicide-prevention-nets that are US made.
Just as DJT demands domestic steel for new pipelines, presumably the same goes for employee-suicide-prevention-nets.
I dunno.
True that Mock.
Same for the rest of em', too.
That 'A' gots to be earned.
No grade inflation allowed.
Maybe Trump's just given a tourism boost to Venezuela -- after all, he told the governor of Guam that the North Korea problem is going to be a big help in that regard for Guam:
"I have to say, Eddie [the governor], you’re going to become extremely famous. All over the world they’re talking about Guam and they’re talking about you.”
“And your tourism, I can say this, your tourism is going to go up like tenfold with the expenditure of no money, so I congratulate you.”
If DJT nukes the Canadians will that stop their stupid smoke from messing w/ our best (re weather) month of the year?
If nothing else, it'd feel cathartic, in a revenge-y sorta way.
Maybe we could say that the missile was meant for NK, but the computer controls F-ed up and it hit Canada, cause a gal was the programmer.
"I won't rule out" hardly pushes the envelope.
There are quite a few Lat Am countries that want to do something about Venezuela. It's stinking up the place with crazy smuggling and drugs and who knows what as everyone is selling everything they can. Bandits everywhere and potential guerillas. And it's about to start sending them millions of starving refugees.
Colombia most of all, but all of them are going to feel it.
They were making Venezuela great. That's why they can't even get toilet paper. But socialism will work best time!
An Obama intervention is in order.
She Chose. She conceived. She aborted.
-- Clintonesque
This is a brilliant troll from Trump. Now we can watch the democrats, catching their breath from calling Trump the next Hitler, scream about how awful it would be to overthrow a dictator.
Aaaaand Lefties start pounding the high chair like a MEF was already wading ashore at Punto Fijo. Hilarious. I'll lay a marker. Trump does more to advance peace and stability with just rhetoric than President Dronekiller did with every pound of ordnance he dropped.
Howard says: What a disgusting pile of fetid pus
What a disgusting pile of fetid pussies.
F[inished]IFY
But will China defend Venezuela if Trump sends troops in? After all China has some investment there.
Chinese investment in Venezuela is going nowhere unless it stabilizes and is prosperous once more.
I assume there are bargain hunters about trying to pick up properties and equities cheap, but there is no profit in anarchy. Nor is a sale a sale.
Panama has been a remarkably peaceful and fairly prosperous nation since we removed Manuel Noriega with a military invasion in 1989.
A better idea would be to teach the Venezuelans about fracking.
They don't need fracking. They have access to large amounts of easily accessible crude. The problem isn't availability. The problem is is that for the last twenty years they haven't been investing in the infrastructure of the industry. Neglect and corruption have destroyed the Venezuelan oil industry. A secondary problem is that instead of investing the oil income in creating a robust economy they spent it on imported luxuries for the elite, and bread and circuses for the masses.
The air force was 1544 pilots short, 1211 fighter pilots at the end of FY2016. They say it's worse now.
The two things that caused pilots to leave in mass numbers, was endless war, and aircraft that were unsafe, or unable to perform a complete sortie. They said there wasn't enough working aircraft to stay current, and pilots were killing themselves doing otherwise routine tasks.
The air force is now a paper tiger. Top heavy with Colonels and Generals, who shuffle paper in swivel chairs.
When I retired in 1993 we were doing 260 days deployed a year, and it had been that way since 1980 when the Iran-Iraq war started.
A better idea would be to teach the Venezuelans about fracking.
A better idea for Venezuelans and pretty much everyone in the world is to minimize the influence of socialists. Everywhere they gain power they screw things up and kill off large chunks of the population.
If there was any justice socialists would be rounded up and shipped to Antarctica before they caused the death of anymore people.
Etienne said...
The air force was 1544 pilots short, 1211 fighter pilots at the end of FY2016. They say it's worse now.
The two things that caused pilots to leave in mass numbers, was endless war, and aircraft that were unsafe, or unable to perform a complete sortie. They said there wasn't enough working aircraft to stay current, and pilots were killing themselves doing otherwise routine tasks.
Don't forget the witch hunts for sexual harassers.
The air force is now a paper tiger. Top heavy with Colonels and Generals, who shuffle paper in swivel chairs.
When I retired in 1993 we were doing 260 days deployed a year, and it had been that way since 1980 when the Iran-Iraq war started.
I never did see many Air Force Enlisted. We only ever saw the PJ's. They always made you feel inadequate as a runner.
Agreed Mock. We're getting bored of the lame, impotent threats from the pussy in chief.
"No option is off the table". Gosh, that sounds like... something every president has said in my life.
Hell no.
Pb,
That comment about foxconn was in red lying stupid, even for you.
Their suicide rate was less than 1/100,000 per year. They thought even that was too much and put up netting.
So what is the suicide rate in Madison? 5? 10?/100m?
What's madison doing to reduce it?
John Henry
Freaking auto correct
Should be incredibly stupid above. Not red lying
President Bigus Swinging Dickus of New Jersey should stop hiding behind the military.
"The air force is now a paper tiger."
The military is definitely overtasked for it's size. The Navy doesn't have enough ships to meet the commitments, munitions stockpiles aren't where they should be, special forces are wearing themselves out, F-18s have serious spare parts shortages and are wearing out ...
Not sure his excellency knows where either guam or venezuela are... there are no trump towers in either place therefore - not interested... more WINNING ! (and war is profitable if you can avoid getting killed) Masters of War - 'and i'll stand over your grave 'till i'm sure that you're dead '
glenn said...
"Just when things were going so well for Trump what with the giant chicken and all he shoots off his mouth and gives Maduro ammunition for his anti-US screeds. He really is his own worst enemy. If Trump wants to do something constructive point out the the Venezuelans are getting what they voted for. And need to."
It's standard procedure for the dictator de jur of Venezuela to blame the United States for their economic woes. In every speech the Venezuelan people are told. "If not for the United State.................."
Largest proven oil reserves in the world. Let that sink in. Also. When they nationalized the refineries they deported the foreign workers who knew how to run them.
Win!
Oh come on, Etienne, they've got plenty of golf courses now.
The Joint Staff and the theater commands have plans for invading every country in the world--but they're probably 10 years out of date.
Once again, a journalistic half-wit forgets the difference between "nothing is ruled out" and "everything is likely."
You know what else isn't "ruled out"? An invasion of Canada. Somewhere in one of the war colleges, there are even detailed plans for it. Under the rules of journalistic integrity, that means Trump is threatening it.
>>We only ever saw the PJ's. They always made you feel inadequate as a runner.
No PJ will ever pay for a drink or a meal if I'm around.
Just another day in paradise:
Torch-wielding white nationalists chanting 'Jews will not replace us' clash with students at UVA
AReasonableMan said...
Just another day in paradise:
Why are you surprised? You've been indoctrinating hate and intolerance for decades. Now you're astonished that there is a reaction?
I'm just surprised that it took so long.
I personally have been 'indoctrinating hate and intolerance for decades'? Could you point to where I did this.
Calling Trump 'President Bigus Swinging Dickus' does not count.
It is just a warning to Cuba and anyone else who might be thinking of coming to Maduro's rescue.
Chelsea Handler gives voice to the wet dream of US leftists: a military coup to overthrow Trump.
Military force to overthrow a communist dictator who has actually arrested and killed the opposition: not a good idea.
Self-awareness among leftists: non-existent.
Finally, a thread that lends itself to mindless left wing slogans and cheap shots. Welcome back guys!
Tommy Duncan said...
Finally, a thread that lends itself to mindless left wing slogans and cheap shots.
We will return to our regular programming of cheap shots and mindless right wing sloganeering as soon as Hillary or Chelsea Clinton reappear in the Daily Mail.
Boy, leftist circle jerk early in the morning.
"What possible "military option" is there for what's going on in Venezuela?"
Iran has been sending IRGC types into Venezuela for several years. If they start to take over, that would be one reason.
The Air Force needs drone pilots even more than the conventional type. Then deployment is not bad as you get deployed to Las Vegas or Tucson.
The latest models are the size of P 51s.
The 4.7 ton MQ-9 is an 11.6 meters (36 foot) long aircraft with a 21.3 meters (66 foot) wingspan. It has six hard points and can carry 682 kg (1,500 pounds) of weapons. These include Hellfire missiles (up to eight), two Sidewinder or two AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, two Maverick missiles, or two 227 kg (500 pound) smart bombs (laser or GPS guided). Max speed is 400 kilometers an hour, and max endurance was originally 15 hours. The Reaper is considered a combat aircraft, to replace F-16s or A-10s in many situations. Most of the nearly 150 Reapers built so far have been for the U.S. Air Force and since introduced in 2007 these Reapers have flown over two million hours.
During the campaign...
"Trump railed against his Democratic opponent as having been “trigger-happy and very unstable” during her tenure as secretary of state, claiming that she produced “only turmoil, suffering and death” while in office.
By contrast, the Republican nominee promised to “prioritize diplomacy over destruction” and pledged that in his administration “our actions in the Middle East will be tempered by realism”."
Andrew Sullivan said ...
The president of the United States laid down an ultimatum that if the North Korean dictator issued any more threats to the U.S., there would be a response more ferocious than any military action in human history — i.e., presumably worse than Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Within hours, Kim Jong-un issued a threat to Guam. And nothing has happened … or will happen.
This was a nuclear threat that was exposed as a bluff on the same day it was made.
When a superpower makes such a threat and doesn’t follow through, its nuclear credibility — the cornerstone of our deterrence — is damaged well below the waterline. That credibility — sustained by successive presidents of both parties, for decades — is integral to our national security and to global stability and peace.
Trump’s reckless nuclear bluff was not run by any aides beforehand. It was not coordinated with the Pentagon or State Department. The language was improvised. He was venting. He was winging it.
For the Republican Party, this is a particularly dark and surreal moment. A party once defined by its edge in national security is now actively, recklessly, impulsively endangering it with a president manifestly unfit for the office he holds and the power he wields.
"Andrew Sullivan said" - who gives a damn what that crackpot says? When it comes to Trump, Sullivan is a bigger drama queen than John McCain or Michael Moore.
Trump has now drawn more red lines than Obama. Open ended options of military action anywhere in the world where there is chaos is dozens and dozens of red lines.
If Obama had said that the Somali pirate situation is out of hand and we need a military operation against Somalia, there would be outrage (actually, perhaps not, since he was treated as a messiah). But then went ahead and bombed the crap out of Somalia.
Instead, we just bombed the crap out of Somalia. No one the wiser, and the Somali pirate problem has diminished. In either case, the end result is the same. Of course we can debate the merits of giving an enemy (un)fair warning about any military operation.
Has trump drawn red lines and when crossed acted by using the big stick that was previously used as a threat?
AReasonableMan said...
Andrew Sullivan said ...
The president of the United States laid down an ultimatum . . .
Yeah, but what does he say about Sarah Palin's vagina?
Yeah - Andrew Sullivan. That's a voice to be trusted for well-reasoned analysis.
When we get to the point where we can invade a country, decapitate it, and hold the critical assets with predominately air power, drones, and robots while putting few Americans at risk and doing it at a significant discount (think equipment purchased via Amazon), then would that be a good thing? If we take out much of the risk and cost to being the world police force, should we then do it full on and take out tyrants everywhere? We could have a national thumbs up or thumbs down vote on regimes around the world. It would make a great TV show. We vote them out and send in the hardware. Then we tax the UN for the cost. New World Order!
“I have, at this point, not ordered military engagement in the situation. But the point that you made about chemical and biological weapons is critical. That’s an issue that doesn’t just concern Syria; it concerns our close allies in the region, including Israel. It concerns us. We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people.
“We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.”
Of course everyone knew that Obama was just a little bitch.
Yea, what ever happened to Palin's vagina. It must be keeping it's nefarious operations very covert lately.
Hillary Clinton @HillaryClinton
Anyone who you can provoke with a tweet should not be anywhere near nuclear weapons.
"That would change my equation.”
Look, don't push me, or I swear to God I will move some parentheses around and change the whole order of operations.
"Our message to the North Koreans and everyone else listening, they will not be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon that has a deliverable capacity on a ballistic missile. "
I have absolutely no problem with that statement!!
I suspect there is some planning going on for military options in case Venezuela implodes into anarchy. Some sort of multi-national Latin American force to keep order, and very likely protect food relief as in 1990's Somalia, as even now disorder is such that the security forces are seizing and selling relief goods, much like what the Somalian militias were up to.
There are indications, I believe, of Colombian military preparations. Maybe Brazil and Panama.
Trump has only used Military force in one new situation so far, and that was done very carefully - the Syria strike.
Trump has no interest in expanding military operations, new theaters. He is using the power of the Soap Box that may save lives in Venezuela by avoiding a bloodbath by Maduro to keep power. Maduro will lose power unless outside intervention happens. Either outside forces (Cuba probably) or lots of money. Trump may have just stopped the Cuba option.
Look, don't push me, or I swear to God I will move some parentheses around and change the whole order of operations.
:-D
"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet."
There's an awful lot that the US can't fix, and shouldn't even consider fixing. Venezuela should be on that list.
Amazing how Democrats rush to defend leftist tyrants the world over. Right now there isn't a dictator who n the world the left is not defending against America. In fact it's plain to see that our leftist types would gladly surrender the US to North Korea or Venezuela or Iran as long as they could execute Trump and ( the key part) every Trump voter.
--Vance
AReasonableMan said...
"I personally have been 'indoctrinating hate and intolerance for decades'? Could you point to where I did this.
Calling Trump 'President Bigus Swinging Dickus' does not count."
Well. Yes I know you have. I presume you meant "have not been"
You teach, don't you?
AReasonableMan said...
"Andrew Sullivan said ..."
Now there's a source you can trust.(roll eyes)
There are indications, I believe, of Colombian military preparations. Maybe Brazil and Panama.
Good.
It's like dad said, don't make me come up there!
They need to handle this themselves. Is it about the oil for them? Lololol
since US military option in VZ makes no sense maybe he meant VA. It's a mess.
Unknown said...
Trump has now drawn more red lines than Obama. Open ended options of military action anywhere in the world where there is chaos is dozens and dozens of red lines.
The epitome of dishonesty. Mostly you are being dishonest with yourself. The left is self immolating and as they dwindle in power and influence they flail ever harder.
The historians will not even make you people a footnote in history about you people because as fellow leftists the professors themselves will be embarrassed by what you people are dong and saying.
I say this because it is pretty clear the left is giving up on their stupid Russian Collusion coup attempt. You people will slither off into your caves defeated and humiliated. Why?
There was no hack of the Democratic National Committee’s system on July 5 last year—not by the Russians, not by anyone else. Hard science now demonstrates it was a leak—a download executed locally with a memory key or a similarly portable data-storage device. In short, it was an inside job by someone with access to the DNC’s system. This casts serious doubt on the initial “hack,” as alleged, that led to the very consequential publication of a large store of documents on WikiLeaks last summer.
Traitors.
Andrew Sullivan voted for John Kerry for President.
Any credibility he had was lost in that moment.
"Trump has now drawn more red lines than Obama."
It's not so much the drawing as the letting people jump over them without consequence that is the real issue.
Trump will never beat Obama in that department.
It would be a huge mistake. If Venezuelans want freedom, they need to rise up and take it. Honestly, given the relatively small size of demonstrations and relatively few fatalities, I'm not convinced they do. If they don't want freedom, why should our soldiers shed their blood?
"Somehow, 'not ruling out' does not equate with 'warns of', IMO. We'd be idiots to rule out any military option anywhere."
We have no legal basis to consider military action anywhere if it is not in response to an imminent or actual attack on our country by a foreign nation.
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