Multiple explosions in Venezuela's capital Caracas

[chvid]

End of the rules based international order. I bet none of the European leaders will speak out against this.

[breppp]

Unconfirmed videos of US helicopters flying over Caracas

https://x.com/sentdefender/status/2007341118204330216

[toomanyrichies]

https://xcancel.com/sentdefender/status/2007341118204330216

[pr337h4m]

Don't you need an AUMF for this, at least in theory?

[bloppe]

This is not war, it's merely a special military operation

[dragonwriter]

> Don't you need an AUMF for this, at least in theory?

That depends on which theory, and whose narrative of the facts relevant to the theory you accept.

For theories, there are three important ones to consider:

(1) The War Powers Act is Constitutional and its terms govern Presidential use of force without a separate Congressional authorization, (2) The War Powers Act is an unconstitutional limit on the President's inherent authority and the President's powers to prosecute war abroad, without a Congressional declaration, are broader than the War Powers Act would suggest, and (3) The War Powers Act is an unconstitutional delegation of reserved Congressional powers to the Executive, and has no effect, leaving the President's powers to prosecute war abroad without a Congressional authorization narrower than the War Powers Act would suggest.

As to relevant factual narratives, there are at least two salient alternatives: (1) The Government of Venezuela, through the vehicle of the Tren de Agua gang which, in fact, is an instrumentality of the state, has conducted and is conducting, since sometime before March 14, 2025, an invasion of the United States as described in President Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act, and therefore the US is, and has been for some time, engaged in a defensive war against that attack by Venezuela, (2) The invasion described in #1 is a fantasy, has not occurred, and the US is not engaged in a defensive war against a Venezuelan invasion.

[mullingitover]

I mean, sure, it’s probably a crime, but the Supreme Court has already established that the President can do crimes with total impunity.

[m4r1k]

The Peace President Strikes Again.

[ChrisArchitect]

More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46473348

[andrewinardeer]

Will cocaine and oil prices increase because of this?

[behnamoh]

the same CNN is sleeping on the Iran developments, such a shame

[ManuelKiessling]

Can you explain what you mean by that? As of this writing, there is a „Iran protests“ block on cnn.com on position #2 or #3 depending on how you count, well within the first 20% of the scroll-like homepage.

[sccxy]

Disgusting aggression from the US.

Trump is copying his friend Putin too much.

[spencerflem]

I know Hackernews is pretty MAGA and that’s never going to change.

But for everyone else: it’s crazy to me they didn’t even bother making up a justification for this war. Completely evil. We cannot let the institutions that enabled this continue.

[peteforde]

I don't think that HN leans MAGA, even by a long-shot.

There's lots of folks here that I often disagree with, but even the conservative-leaning tend to be far more willing to at least debate than you'll find on most places on the web.

Honestly, if you truly perceive a MAGA vibe on here, I would stop to question your own notions of what qualifies as moderate.

[unethical_ban]

I don't think HN leans MAGA. However, I think there are a nonzero number of people on this site which hold MAGA views, which can feel like too many for a site that respects facts and intellectual richness.

As a liberal in a blue gerrymandered district within a red state, I literally can only hope that the pain and destruction and illegal behaviors of this administration impact my friends who voted for Trump, so that their lack of empathy/attention to world events gets adjusted enough to sit out 2026/2028 or ideally to vote otherwise. - edit to be clear: Damage is being done to all of us; my point is not malice or Schaudenfreude but hope that something can open his supporters' eyes.

The sheer amount of illegal and quid-pro-quo behavior from the president and the justice department can only be described as a coup against our own Constitution and legislature.

[eviks]

But they did, the whole drug nonsense was that justification

[fofoz]

Oil, as usual.

[redwood]

Have you ever spoken to Venezuelan about it?