At a White House press opportunity on Friday, President Trump issued new rules of engagement to U.S. forces operating near Venezuela. Speaking to a small group of reporters in the Oval Office, President Trump was asked about the provocative actions of what Venezuela calls an air force toward U.S. ships in the Caribbean. My colleague Ward Clark covered that incident in Maduro Pokes the Lion: Venezuelan Jets Buzz US Navy Ship – RedState. A pair of aging F-16s held together with black market and cannibalized parts due to U.S. sanctions, flown by a couple of long-in-the-tooth pilots, buzzed a U.S. Navy ship.
This is allegedly the video from one of the planes released by the Maduro regime.
President Trump's remarks first laid the predicate for why we are actively interdicting drug runners and doing it more aggressively than in the past. He compared the deaths to drug overdoses to those in war, "We lost 600,000 in the uh pretty much between Gettysburg and all of that. The Civil War, we lost what? 600,000. So, we're losing half of that every year to drugs. We’re not going to do it. We're not going to allow it to happen."
Then he issued this order (the video is cued for your convenience).
REPORTER: What happens if Venezuela flies jets over US naval vessels again?
TRUMP: Well, I would say they're going to be in trouble. We’ll let them know about that. We heard that happen, but it wasn't really over, not like they described. But I would say, General, if they do that, you have a choice of doing anything you want, okay? If they fly in a dangerous position, I would say that you can uh you or your captains can make the decision as to what they want to do, alright?
REPORTER: How close did they get? You said they didn't go over, how close did they get?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to talk about that, but if they do put us in a dangerous position, they'll be shot down.
I hope this marks a change in the rules of engagement for all U.S. Navy ships and Air Force aircraft.
Maduro, realizing that the Find Out part of the FAFO sequence of events is about to start, called for negotiations.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has said that the US allegations about his country are not true, and that differences between the nations do not justify a "military conflict".
"Venezuela has always been willing to talk, to engage in dialogue, but we demand respect," he added.
Unfortunately for Maduro, respect is something rarely given to people held in contempt by most of the world.
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