Trump's Gunboat Diplomacy

"Any day now, a US Navy strike force, led by the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, will join an armada of war ships already positioned off the coast of Venezuela. Described in the naval media as "the most capable, adaptable, and lethal combat platform in the world," the USS Gerald R. Ford bristles with state-of-the-art attack aircraft on its massive deck: Super Hornet fighters, Growler electronic warfare jets, and Seahawk helicopters among them."

"This show of force is unprecedented in the 21st century. Not since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis has the United States assembled such a lethal array of firepower in the Caribbean. Trump administration officials have begun leaking attack plans to media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and the Miami Herald, which have reported that initial raids would target Venezuelan military installations and that US airstrikes "could begin within days, even hours.""

"Since the Venezuelan armed forces have not attacked or even threatened to attack the United States, the Trump administration has been forced to concoct a public justification for its actions-the widely reported but spurious claim that Washington is combatting "narco-terrorists." The post-9/11 war on terrorism established a precedent for waging war against so-called "non-state actors;" defining low level speedboat pilots and alleged drug smugglers as "terrorists" is intended to provide a dubious legal cover for killing them."

A US Navy strike force led by the USS Gerald R. Ford is joining an armada off Venezuela, adding to about 10,000 military personnel deployed across the region. The carrier carries Super Hornet fighters, Growler electronic warfare jets, Seahawk helicopters, and roughly 5,000 seamen and Marines. The buildup represents the largest concentration of US firepower in the Caribbean since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Leaked attack plans report initial raids would target Venezuelan military installations and indicate airstrikes could begin imminently. The Trump administration is reportedly framing the action as combatting "narco-terrorists," invoking post-9/11 precedents to justify operations against non-state actors.

Read at The Nation