President Donald Trump’s unauthorized military strike on Venezuela to arrest Nicolás Maduro — terrible as it is — is a sickening throwback to a day when the United States asserted the right to dominate the internal political affairs of all countries in the Western Hemisphere. That history is full of failures — in Cuba, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Chile, the Dominican Republic and elsewhere — that have destabilized the region and led to deep hostility toward the United States.
The White House spin room is already working desperately to sell this disaster to the American people, including the anti-interventionist MAGA base that elected President Trump. At the top of the to-do list was a press aide, including Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
During the presser, Trump dug an even deeper hole. He acknowledged that the illegal operation could have incurred serious costs for U.S. military personnel. He promised to “steer” Venezuela and could not answer follow-up questions about what that means. He offered vague suggestions that American companies could steal Venezuela’s oil — a futile attempt to demonstrate that this reckless operation was to America’s advantage. And he and Rubio even threatened that Cuba would be next.
KAINE TELLS CONGRESS TO GET HIS A– OUT OF THE BANK, RECOVER WAR POWERS
We argue that nations must respect each other’s sovereignty. How can we make that claim with a straight face if the United States doesn’t? We sign international human rights conventions that prohibit the killing of disabled combatants.
How can we look the world – or ourselves – in the eye when we kill castaways who were not even aware that the president had put them on a secret list of those who could be targeted by the US military?
We pledge allegiance to a Constitution that provides that war shall not be initiated without a vote of Congress. How can we allow this president – or any president – to casually deploy our military against other countries, without notice to, consultation with, debate within, or vote by Congress?
And where does this go next? Will the President deploy our troops to protect Iranian protesters? To enforce the fraying ceasefire in Gaza? To fight terrorists in Nigeria? Conquer Greenland or the Panama Canal? To attack Cuba? To oppress Americans who gather peacefully to protest his policies? Trump has threatened to do all this and more. But he clearly sees no need to seek legal permission from the popularly elected legislature before putting soldiers in harm’s way.
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The net effect of the president’s actions – unilateral illegal military strikes, chaotic tariffs, disrespectful rhetoric – is to weaken relations with allies and strengthen our adversaries. Notably, China recently launched a Latin American strategy that promises closer partnerships with countries in the region. We know from experience that such Chinese partnerships are often hollow and even predatory. But our neighbors in America will embrace partnership, even in the face of uncertainty, rather than dominance.
Not only is this action likely to drive our neighbors further into the arms of our most serious strategic adversary – endangering Americans’ economic and national security – it is also yet another broken promise from an erratic, unfocused president. Whatever happened to putting America first? Americans are begging for lower prices, but all Trump is interested in is chasing opportunities to lead us into wars we don’t want.
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It is long past time for Congress to reaffirm its critical constitutional role in war, peace, diplomacy, and commerce. My bipartisan resolution stating that we shall not go to war with Venezuela without clear authorization from Congress will be voted on in the coming days. And I expect there will be many more such resolutions in the coming year.
We have entered the 250th year of American democracy and cannot allow it to spiral into the tyranny our founders fought to escape.
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