https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/daniel-davis-us-troops-should-stay-out-of-venezuela-military-intervention-would-fail
Daniel Davis: US troops should stay out of Venezuela – military intervention would fail
the last thing America should do is involve itself – especially militarily – in Venezuela’s violent, chaotic political crisis and humanitarian disaster. Yet disturbing early signs from Washington indicate that’s exactly what the Trump administration is threatening to do.
Here’s a list of some of our failed interventions:
In 1953 in Iran, the CIA helped orchestrate a coup of the democratically elected leader of the nation and installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the shah of Iran – the last king to rule the country. He proved to be incurably corrupt, and his oppression of the Iranian people laid the foundation for the rise of Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini and a popular revolution that overthrew the shah in 1979. The clerical regime the rules the self-proclaimed Islamic Republic remains a menace in the Middle East to this day.
In 1963 in South Vietnam, senior U.S. officials helped support a coup of the democratically elected leader of the nation because we didn’t like his policies. The coup was successful, yet the successor government was just as corrupt and contributed to that side’s loss in the Vietnam War, unifying the country under the communist government that had previously ruled only North Vietnam.
In 1963 in Cuba, U.S. military and CIA personnel helped a group of Cuban exiles attempt a coup against communist leader Fidel Castro. The coup failed in the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion. Castro then successfully silenced all opposition and held onto unchecked power for the next four decades. His brother now rules.
In 2001 in Afghanistan, American militarily forces ousted the Taliban Islamist extremist regime and set up a new regime of our choosing. The new government has proven corrupt and remains incapable of effectively governing its people or defeating the Taliban insurgency. We’ve been fighting alongside our Afghan allies for 18 years, with no end in sight.
In 2003 in Iraq, the U.S. deposed dictator Saddam Hussein and began a long war. Iraq remains a volatile place today, more closely aligned with Iran than the U.S.
In 2011 in Libya, America facilitated the overthrow of brutal dictator Muammar Qaddafi. Libya remains in a civil war, with two governments claiming sovereignty. Violence, death and chaos define the nation’s politics.
Can you detect a pattern here?
There’s no reason to believe U.S. military intervention in Venezuela would fare any better than our past interventions since the 1950s.