Donald Trump said, “not going to start a war, I’m going to stop wars,” in his victory speech after winning his second election for president.
He now is taking actions that could easily get America involved in another long and costly war.
Under President Trump’s orders, at least 115 Venezuelans have been killed by U.S. attacks on boats offshore. Then, on Jan. 3, Trump had the military capture Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro. Venezuelan officials said 83 to 100 people were killed in this attack.
The reasoning Trump gives for these actions against Venezuela keeps shifting. At first, Trump said it was about stopping fentanyl from coming to the US. Experts have said that Venezuela is not involved in the fentanyl business. They are involved in sending cocaine to Europe. Later, Trump claims he is recovering stolen oil.
Trump has stated he will run Venezuela now. The U.S. has quarantined all tankers coming from and going to Venezuela. Our military has seized at least seven oil tankers. Trump has announced the U.S. will take 30 to 50 million barrels of oil and put the profits in offshore bank accounts that he controls.
What do you think Trump will do to keep “running” Venezuela? What will he do with the money that he controls?
Trump has made threats to take Greenland, “one way or another.” After that threat, Germany, Sweden, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland and the United Kingdom announced they would send troops to Greenland. These are all NATO members. As of Jan. 21, Trump has backed down and claimed he is in the process of negotiating for Greenland.
But like tariffs, nobody knows what Trump will do from one day to the next. Countries that were once our allies are afraid of us because of our unstable leader.
Trump wants to risk American lives so that he can colonize more territory.
Trump apparently has not learned from the last two U.S. wars, our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The war in Iraq lasted almost nine years. It started in March 2003 and ended on in August 2011. About 4,500 American soldiers and 3,600 American civilians were killed. The Iraq war cost America about $2.89 trillion. The purpose was to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, but no weapons of mass destruction were found. Oops!
The war in Afghanistan lasted almost 20 years. It started in October 2001 and ended in August 2021. About 2,000 American military personnel and about 4,000 American civilians were killed in this conflict. This one cost America about $2.3 trillion. The purpose of this war was supposed to be to stop terrorism.
Do you think we have less terrorism now? How easy was it to run Afghanistan?
We cannot let Trump’s ambitions entangle America in another costly war that benefits no one but the military industrial complex and Trump. It is up to the American people to not let Trump drag us into another pointless war.
Daniel Meekhof
Packwood
