Many are asking about the recent military intervention into Venezuela to extract its president, his wife, and bring them to “justice” stateside: What kind of precedent does this set?
Great question. However, it is not setting a precedent as much as continuing one. Iraq, Panama, and Cuba come immediately to mind.
A reminder: the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba didn’t work out as planned.
One could argue that snatching Saddam and smoking out Noriega achieved their objectives, but where did that leave us? Bogged down. Bloodied. And considerably poorer for the effort.