Thats what we just experienced, Hegseth has done the impossible and proved how brilliant he is. Everyone doubted him and tried to make out he was out of his depth and he goes and pulls off the most amazing feat by the military. Not one soldier was harmed and they took the president of a country out of his office with precision and brilliant leadership, Hegseth has put himself on the top shelf of tacticians and brilliant leaders.

chimera wrote on Jan 4^th, 2026 at 5:01pm:


You might not be happy with the outcome chimera but the people of Venezuela are crying with joy. Its a shame posters like yourself and armchair would rather see them ruled under a brutal dictator if it means Trump gets credit for his amazing actions.

Leroy wrote on Jan 4^th, 2026 at 5:07pm:

Banana republics shoot their way into the next dictatorship. Coups, revolution, assassinations. aye yi yi !
It could work for Australia eh.

Way off target. It's because Trump is bringing the US into the system of banana republics. You may have heard about 'democracy. rule of law'. It's on google (Australia is in the Pacific, in the south, near New Zealand)

Leroy wrote on Jan 4^th, 2026 at 5:48pm:


You think Trump did this for drugs, or for the Venezuelan people?

There's no serious dispute that Maduro is a corrupt, vicious dictator who represses democratic opposition. That's true, and it's been true for years. But acknowledging that reality doesn't grant Trump a licence to shred international law on a whim.

Unilaterally seizing a foreign head of state, outside a declared war, is a breach of virtually every canon of international law. It collapses the distinction between law enforcement, war, and piracy. Once you normalise that behaviour, you don't get to pretend you still believe in a rules-based order.

And the damage doesn't stop at Venezuela. This is exactly the kind of precedent authoritarian powers look for. It hands Putin a ready-made justification in Ukraine, and it gives a future Xi the same script for Taiwan. "The West does it too" isn't a slogan, it's a strategic gift.

If the argument is that power alone confers legitimacy, then stop pretending this is about democracy, human rights, or the Venezuelan people. It isn't. It's about raw force, exercised without constraint, and dressed up after the fact as moral necessity.

You don't defend international law by violating it when it's inconvenient. You don't protect democracy by teaching every strongman on the planet that rules only apply to the weak.

Lefties would condemn what was done to Idi Amin.

It's sadly their problem.

Unless we look at the masked ice agents, under the direction of the US president, kidnapping people without identifying themselves, having a warrant issued, or allowing them any due process, just kidnapping them off the streets, the act of a dictator ignoring the rule of law.

Should we send in the SAS to remove Trump?

If not, why not?

BUT -

40 people were killed to get one man and put him on trial:

https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/1/4/venezuelans-divided-after-us-a...

4 Jan 2026

Venezuelans divided after US attack and Maduro’s abduction

Venezuelan officials say US air strikes killed at least 40 people,
destroyed parts of the capital and violated their national sovereignty with the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuelans are divided between fear of ongoing US intervention and celebrating his removal.