Bret Stephens, who never saw an American war he didn’t like, is predictably advocating for one in Venezuela. As I noted in a previous post, there is a reasonable case for intervention. Is it as compelling as Stephens thinks?
Leave aside the impact on world opinion, particularly in South America. Ignore the message it sends to Xi about Taiwan. How do you think the American people will react if Trump starts an unprovoked imperialist war–and that’s what it will be–on a transparently flimsy pretext and without strong public support and authorization from Congress? Does Stephens think that raising the national temperature by a few hundred degrees at this already volatile time is a good idea for American liberal democracy?
I certainly don’t. It’s easy to imagine the GOP describing any opposition to the war as treason. Where do you think that will lead?