Having cancelled his Europe trip because of ongoing planning on
Venezuela, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan held closed-door
meetings at the Pentagon on Friday with John Bolton and Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo.
Exact details of the meeting are not being made public, and the State
Department didn’t even list the meeting as having taken place.
Administration officials, however, said the focus was on discussing various military options for a US invasion of Venezuela.
Perennial hawk John Bolton seems to be salivating at the possibility of
the US invading the major South American country, while Pompeo has been
telling the press at every opportunity that if the US decides an attack
is required “that’s what the United States will do.”
Shanahan continues to brag about the good intelligence the US has on the
situation in Venezuela, a claim which must be questioned after this
week’s failed coup. The administration’s leadership seems determined to
portray themselves as ready to start this war, and after months of
saying that not having imposed regime change through sheer force of
will, there is a growing risk they will attack outright.
Pentagon Setting Military Options for Attacking Venezuela
Top officials hold closed-door meeting on potential attack
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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