Once upon a time, Iraq looked like a good idea, too

October 31, 2025

Yes, this is gunboat diplomacy at its most visible, and the spectre of drugs is nothing more than a fig leaf to cover a blatant war of aggression. Plenty of drugs make it into the US from Central and South America, but to my knowledge Venezuela has never featured prominently in that supply chain.

Ever since Trump started his second term, he has been spruiking his ability to mix it with the other major world leaders and bend them to his will. He has been roundly rebuffed by Putin in Ukraine, Xi over trade and Taiwan, Iran over its missile development and resistance to Israeli and pretty much everyone over his tariffs and sanctions.

Even the Houthis in Yemen stood up to him. Trump needs a win. What to do?

Suddenly, Venezuela looks like a good idea. Lots of oil for the taking, proximity to the US, a goodly remove from both Russia and China and apparently a weak leader with not much of a military force to support him. What could go wrong?

Let’s think about that. Once upon a time, Iraq looked like a good idea. Once upon a time, so did Afghanistan.