Venezuela Shipping

This is an issue that creates animosity against the USA worldwide. If the USA affirms the right of one country to attack another based on a dislike of a government, it would justify 9/11. After all that is what Al Quaeda did. The rule of Law is not perfect, but is the best humanity has come up with.

 

After the US installed the VP of Venezuela, I gotta admit total confusion.

 

I'm not so sure the rule of law has ever worked that well except for controlling those of modest resources. My humble observations are that when whenever powerful entities are involved, they have resources to circumvent law by using dozens of maneuvers. Circumvention of law by the powerful, has always been there in stealth mode, but is now is openly pronounced and executed with braggadocio. It's even happening with the powerful attacking their own citizens they dislike, where no laws have been broken, using the military, as well as against other countries, whether they deserve it or not without proof.

Having quick, effective and unescapable checks and balances on power, is probably more effective when used with the rule of law, IMHO. But that Primal concept provided for any constitution, doesn't seem to be working lately.

 

What? An incoherent foreign policy? Say it ain't so...

Last 25 years still happened, pretty good at overthrowing regimes... not so good at the weeks months and years later. My whole adult life and billions to replace the taliban with the taliban. Couple days to replace Maduro with his vp.... saved us 20 years and trillions of dollars... mission accomplished I guess?


Our global economy is so incredibly dependent on free movement on the open seas. Love it or hate it, its the lifeblood of modern trade. Look at the disruptions cause by a few pirates in a small shipping lane, now broaden it to western backed attacks... where does that go. To India, russia, and china sending escorts around the globe? Seems plausible and almost necessary, does that massively ratchet up risk of broadscale conflict? Sure seems like it.

Seems like endless short sighted policy with thin veneer of rationalization. We drove past some pretty big productuction narco states to hit this one... I guess drugs are way worse when they sit on massive oil reserves.

 

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely

 

The VP was installed by the Venezuelan Supreme Court. Delcy Rodrigues, her brother, and her son all have US warrants going back years. They'll either figure it out or they won't. I wouldn't take what they say on Venezuelan media too seriously.

 

Perhaps,..... but what is a ship, using false papers, running prohibited goods, to a internationally sanctioned country? Smuggler? Pirate? The countries you listed are tacitly supporting the lawless shadow fleets...They cannot escort those ships without very publicly exposing their undeniable involvement to the whole international community (not that that would matter in some cases).

What drugs are we talking about...Cocaine? Most coca is grown in leftist rebel controlled territory of Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia. Heroin? Most opium is from the failed states of Myanmar/Golden Triangle and Afghanistan. Fentanyl? Companies in China, North Korea, and increasingly India are the primary global suppliers of the unregulated or diverted precursor chemicals needed to synthesize fentanyl. These chemicals are often sold online and shipped through various means, including commercial cargo and mail, to Mexico.
So while the Cartels of Mexico, Central and South America are the major movers of the narco trade, they are not the major suppliers of the base materials.

 

I think that it is praisworthy to this forum, that a hot item like this can be discussed in a courteous manner.

 

And what about other items?. It's supposed to be that way too. Or do you think it's unnecessary?

 

The best list I have suggests the drug boats struck recently involve 13 different nations (in bound or outbound). So let's not conflate two pretty different missions being taken on by different segments of the military and different agencies. Also note that drug intercept efforts are focused on interdicting Fentanyl. But the current Maduro indictments do center around cocaine trafficking charges. The indictment is interesting reading.

And the US boarded a couple more tankers. One is the one we have been shadowing across the Atlantic and it was boarded NW of Scotland.

 

The drug boat attacks are 100% a way to create rationalizing for the major attack for Trump’s base. They have zero to do with interdiction, based on the kill em all policy. They don’t want to board a boat and find nothing or leave a witness to say he was fishing for his family.

 

That type of policy has been effective for a very long time. History has a long record of governments creating a situation that gradually escalates to the actual goal. Machiavelli's "The Prince" laid out in detail these methods.

 

At least this time it appears no children and babies were killed deliberately or not, in those attacks, at least that we know of.