[ch2026]

They don’t need to justify it because Americans who are upset don’t possess the wherewithal to hold them accountable.

[blurbleblurble]

They're too busy worrying about making rent and defending their neighbors from getting abducted by masked adult boys

[miroljub]

> getting abducted by masked adult boys

Which boys?

[pixelpoet]

I don't see how they're any less complicit than the Russians living nice and chilled in Moscow.

[notTooFarGone]

So the bar is now at least we are as bad as Russia?

[qwytw]

Regardless of anything else equating Maduro's Venezuela and Ukraine and the military side-effects of both invasions/"operations" isn't exactly fair. The Venezuelan government is/was both illegitimate and very oppressive. Not that I'm implying that Trump did what he did on Humanitarian grounds...

[SecretDreams]

> Americans who are upset don’t possess the wherewithal to hold them accountable.

Any attempt at holding the admin accountable would make it look a bit more like Venezuela. NA is rightfully too soft to want to ever go that route. They'll peacefully protest and that'll be it. Anything more than that would be the individuals throwing their lives away unless the whole country did it in unison.

[cornholio]

Trump was extraordinarily lucky here, the Maduro regime was wholly unprepared and he was immediately extracted from the county; he can claim "mission accomplished", parade Maduro in front of the world media and watch from afar the PSUV leadership tear themselves appart.

But the dice Trump rolled could have easily fell onto a well prepared Maduro regime, which could have downed a few Blackhawks, torpedoed the ship from which they launched, captured and killed a few dozens to a few hundreds US service men, paraded them in the streets of Caracas and used them as human shields protecting the main military targets etc.

I.e, Trump could have easily committed US to a long term war and a ground invasion, without Congress authorization or allied support, and with Iraq or worse long term results.

[tantalor]

Simpler explanation: the army stood down and Maduro went peacefully.

It's actually quite an impressive feat of negotiation.

[jonway]

Any ideas? All ears.

[__patchbit__]

DJT 2.0 did a `Charlie Kirk' flex and acted out of MAGA base self interest before the Who you know. Stocking up on fuel will put more cards in the hand for next moves in China or Iran.