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by RON PAUL
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As was the case the morning after “Shock and Awe” signaled the start of the Iraq war, many are cheering the U.S. military raid on Venezuela and capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro. Overwhelming U.S. military power – and likely some bribed Venezuelan officials – ensured that the operation was swift and dramatic.
This was not a war, we were told. It was just a surgical operation to remove a criminal dictator and restore democracy to the country. American oil companies would soon get even richer exploiting the country’s vast oil reserves. This time it will be different!
If all of this sounds familiar that’s because it is the same narrative used each time the U.S. has launched a “regime change” operation this century.
The Iraq war would be a “cake walk,” they swore. Skeptics were ridiculed. The staged demolition of the Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad marked the triumph of that short U.S. military operation.
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The “liberation” of Iraq was to be the first domino in the coming revolution throughout the Middle East, we were promised. Just weeks into the operation, then-president George W. Bush landed on an aircraft carrier with a huge “Mission Accomplished” banner behind him.
Then everything fell apart. The U.S. could not “run” Iraq. It could only use brutal force – and torture – to give the impression that we would soon turn the corner. Victory was at hand. Just send more troops and spend a little more money.
But none of it did the trick. None of it worked.
In the end, the U.S. sunk trillions into the failed “nation-building” operation in Iraq and upwards of a million people died including thousands of US troops.
And here we go again.
Despite being elected on promises of “no new wars” and “no nation-building,” President Donald Trump used military force against Venezuela, kidnapped the country’s president, and declared that “we” would be running the country from now on.
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RELATED | DONALD TRUMP RAIDS VENEZUELA, CAPTURES DICTATOR
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After the operation in Venezuela, President Trump took a “Mission Accomplished” victory lap of his own in a press conference where he declared that U.S. oil companies would return to Venezuela under U.S. protection and that we would “run” Venezuela for the time being.
“The oil companies are going to spend money… we are going to get reimbursed,” he said.
But there’s more to come.
President Trump’s Venezuela raid and kidnapping occurred just as Israeli prime minister Netanyahu was departing the country. According to press reports, Netanyahu was in town to persuade President Trump to send the US military back into Iran. Israeli officials have openly stated that the U.S. operation in Venezuela is the warm-up for the next round of U.S. “regime change” – in Iran.
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To the communist leaders of Cuba: you might want to think about leaving soon. https://t.co/joHiGRAyDX
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 4, 2026
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Warmongering U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has taken to the television news programs to urge President Trump to continue on to Cuba and then Iran. President Trump seemed to agree, stating that, “we have to do it again. We can do it again, too. Nobody can stop us.”
Venezuela was just another neocon operation. First comes propaganda demonizing the country and its leadership. Then comes saber-rattling and threats of war. The operation is launched and the “objectives” are quickly reached. Or so they claim. But then it all falls apart. We become poorer as the special interests get richer. And those we claim to be liberating suffer worse than under the previous regime.
Will we ever learn?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Ron Paul is a former U.S. Congressman from Texas and the leader of the pro-liberty, pro-free market movement in the United States. His weekly column – reprinted with permission – can be found here.
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6 comments
Huh…we were told over and over that a vote for Kamala was a vote for more endless wars…
I bet FIFA is rethinking that fake peace prize they gave Trump.
Interesting short articles from today on “Hal Turner Radio Show” web site, regarding acts of piracy by our military against a Russian flagged ship and the (justified) response from Russian leaders. Methinks Trump is going to cause Trump to hand us our own ass if he keeps this up.
Edit: “…Trump is going to cause Russia to hand us…”
Don’t complain, Will, you voted for this. When he does it to Greenland, you voted for that too.
“President Trump’s declaration that he would personally control the proceeds from oil produced in Venezuela drew instant condemnation on Wednesday from Democrats in Congress who noted that the president had no constitutional authority for such an undertaking,” the New York Times reports.
“While the administration’s plans for handling what could be billions of dollars of revenue from oil sales are still taking shape, Mr. Trump announced on Tuesday that he intended to determine how the money is distributed.”
This is unbelievable. Trump sends in our military to seize the President of another country. Claims it’s about drugs, even after pardoning a much larger drug kingpin. Then demands that the country turn over its oil and natural resources to him under threat of invasion. All that is bad enough, but now he proposes to sell the oil we are extorting from Venezuela, and he will personally decide how to spend the money. This has to be the most corrupt administration in the history of the country. This is what our founding fathers feared most. An openly corrupt executive and an impotent, spineless, compliant legislative branch.
If you still support this man, you can go to hell. He bitched about Mark Kelly warning people in the military not to obey illegal orders. Well, every order associated with this travesty is illegal. I have no sympathy for anyone in the military who goes along with it. Ultimately, everyone from top to bottom needs to be held accountable.
As I said from the beginning, Trump wants to destroy NATO. He sees himself as King of the Western Hemisphere, and he does not care about anything other than making himself and his family rich and powerful.
“This has to be the most corrupt administration in the history of the country.”
Individual president? Sure, he’s the lead horse there at this point. He’s got a long way to go to outshadow Kissinger though.