I suspect regime change is the goal here as bringing some serious production capacity online in Venezuela would go a long way towards insulating many of our allies, particularly Europe, from the effects of production going offline in Russia or somewhere else. If this is the plan, it has been cooking since long before Jan 2025.
On Sun, Oct 26, 2025 at 5:16 PM Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > A little late for Friday funnies. > > > > FWIW, I am inclined to believe the boats in the Pacific and the > submersibles in the Caribbean are in fact smuggling drugs. Don’t seem to > fit the profile of fishing or tourist boats. Not sure I would kill them > based on my “inclined to believe” unless they were about to kill me. > > > > The other boats in the Caribbean, from some local reporting I’ve seen, are > likely to be fishermen impoverished by the Maduro government’s > mismanagement of the economy deciding out of desperation to do a drug run > for a one time bundle of dollars or euros. Drugs not necessarily destined > to the US, just as likely to a Caribbean island and then to Europe, since > most drugs to US go through Mexico. > > > > Our government’s constant statements that these are Tren de Aragua gang > members are not very credible, I feel like they are pandering to American > fear of gangs. More likely some Venezuelan rando with no money recruited > to do a drug run by some actual criminals who don’t put themselves in harms > way. Even Maduro, who is a scumbag, says you need to target the kingpins > not the low level workers. Is that an invitation to a compromise? > > > > But many people believe the Trump/Rubio objective has nothing to do with > drugs but rather regime change. Anyone’s guess whether sending a carrier > group and flying B2 bombers down Venezuela’s coast is a bluff hoping Maduro > abdicates or a coup deposes him, or if they really intend to start bombing > targets inside Venezuela. Maybe the pledge to end foreign wars only > applied to boots on the ground. I guess we’ll know later this week when > the USS Gerald Ford arrives from the Mediterranean. Will this be added to > the list after Bay of Pigs and Grenada? > > > > *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Steve Jones > *Sent:* Saturday, October 25, 2025 9:59 PM > *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] now we're blowing up boats in the Pacific > > > > Rotflmao > > > > On Sat, Oct 25, 2025, 7:03 PM Jan-GAMs <[email protected]> wrote: > > None of the photos I've seen of these boats being destroyed with people on > them have shown anything that could be remotely divined as a "bundle" of > drugs. These boats are the means for people to travel to the islands. > Commuters are being murdered. I hope these bastards doing the killing are > going to get hunted down by the ICC and made very sorry. > > On 10/22/25 14:23, Adam Moffett wrote: > > Yes, and that's the primary argument against this practice. If we have > solid intel that they're carrying drugs, and we know where they are, then > as soon as they enter our territorial waters we can board the boat and > arrest them. The Coast Guard doesn't need a warrant or even a specific > reason to board a boat. Some of those boats are faster than Cutters, but I > don't have solid info on how often they actually escape when they're > already being tracked. It's hard to imagine they really get away often > because the Coast Guard also has helicopters, and they're allowed to > continue a pursuit into international waters (and onto land) as long as the > pursuit started in US waters. > > > > Regardless of how often they really get away, it's not normal to blow up > someone's boat as a law enforcement action. We also don't execute drug > traffickers, and even when the state executes someone there's a trial > first. > > > > but..... > > - post-911 we treat foreign terrorist organizations as enemy combatants > > > - the executive branch gets to decide who counts as an FTO. The sec > of state, sec of treasury, and attorney general all have to agree, but they > also all have the same boss. > > > - Nobody can really stop the executive branch from declaring an FTO. > > > - Congress could pass a bill to override someone's listing as an FTO, > but to date they've never done it. > > > - The courts could overturn an FTO listing, but for a lot of reasons > it's almost impossible. > > > > > > So effectively the President and/or their cabinet has a completely legal > pathway to authorize military force against just about anyone, and there's > very little anyone can do about it. It's not that I have sympathy for drug > smugglers, it's that all we can do is take someone's word for it that it > was a drug smuggler. If anyone is totally comfortable with that then I'm > curious what your rationale is. > > > > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* AF <[email protected]> <[email protected]> on behalf > of Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Wednesday, October 22, 2025 3:00 PM > *To:* 'AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group' <[email protected]> > <[email protected]> > *Subject:* [AFMUG] now we're blowing up boats in the Pacific > > > > *https://x.com/SecWar/status/1981049943306752361 > <https://x.com/SecWar/status/1981049943306752361>* > > > > I thought the Coast Guard was able to intercept boats and board them, > arrest people and confiscate cargo. I seem to remember they specifically > acquired high speed boats that were a match for anything a drug runner > might have. > > > > -- > AF mailing list > [email protected] > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com > > -- > AF mailing list > [email protected] > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >
-- AF mailing list [email protected] http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
