Halls of Shrewd'm / US Policy
No. of Recommendations: 3
I see the Venezuelans are using submarines now.
No. of Recommendations: 4
I see the Venezuelans are using submarines now. That's the problem, survivors might not fit the narrative. We are assured Venezuela is the narco center of the western hemisphere, even though the data does not support that.
Where are the survivors from?
WASHINGTON (AP) — The two survivors of an American military strike on a suspected drug-carrying vessel in the Caribbean will be sent to Ecuador and Colombia, their home countries, President Donald Trump said Saturday.https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/articles/us-s...oops. Reminds me of my coworkers who were absolutely sure all the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq, except that none of them were.
The regime will need to make sure there are no survivors from all strikes in the future.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 1
I see the Venezuelans are using submarines now.
They use everything. I remember when they found them building a submarine in Bogota using Russian submarine plans. Big thing, built in parts they would assemble at the ocean. Bogota is 8600 feet above sea level and 240 miles away from the nearest coast.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Bogota is 8600 feet above sea level and 240 miles away from the nearest coast. Bogata is also in Columbia, where one of the sub survivors, and, according to the data, the vast majority of dope comes from, not the "narco center of the hemesphere, (we are told) Venezuela".
The NBC "news" interviewed Machado today. Does something about her seem off? The weekend NBC anchor interviewed her, He rattled off the number of members of her family who have been arrested or disappeared by the Venezuelan regime, yet, there she is, "in hiding", but able to communicate with the world. Meanwhile, Maduro is reportedly trying to negotiate an arty deal where he gives the US a piece of the action, in return for being left alone. Of course, his nibs is thinking why should he settle for a piece, when he can take it all?
Well, Bush #43 had "Curveball" to support his agenda in Iraq.
Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, Rāfid Aḥmad Alwān; born 1968), known by the Defense Intelligence Agency cryptonym "Curveball", is a German-French citizen who defected from Iraq in 1999, claiming that he had worked as a chemical engineer at a plant that manufactured mobile biological weapon laboratories as part of an Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program.
Despite warnings from the German Federal Intelligence Service and the British Secret Intelligence Service questioning the authenticity of the claims, the US and British governments utilized them to build a rationale for military action in the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curveball_(informant)
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 1
Bogata is also in Columbia, where one of the sub survivors, and, according to the data, the vast majority of dope comes from, not the "narco center of the hemesphere, (we are told) Venezuela".
Yes, I have been to Bogota, Colombia several times, but my friends there have passed on. Cocaine is huge there, but fentanyl still comes Mexico, and the precursor drugs for fentanyl still come from China, and India has joined the enterprise. China has an inconsistent record on regulating the precursor drugs, so it gets through. Mexico is till the primary source for fentanyl, so I discount claims its Venezuela.
What was it the head of the VIA said about WMD being made in Iraq? Slam dunk? But that was nukes. And Sadam ordered in suits and gear to protect form biological weapons, which were just a ruse.
The oil in Venezuela is extra heavy crude, more difficult to process and deal with the byproducts. I think V is just an easy target because T promised to stop fentanyl and this looks like he's doing something. Mexico is not easy, so that's out. So T has the border, a Plus, now the cease fire, a plus, he can't deliver on bringing prices down, a negative, can't solve Ukraine-Russia, a negative (but Putin has a new idea, and we're back to Ukraine give up everything methinks), so V is likely a show for the masses so far as drugs are subject to the balloon effect. He could always get lucky.
No. of Recommendations: 1
He could always get lucky.
Or we could. Given a bounty for killing him could incentivize many people.
No. of Recommendations: 1
Given a bounty for killing him could incentivize many people.
You’ve overplayed that line of thinking, Jerry.
No. of Recommendations: 1
so V is likely a show for the masses so far as drugs are subject to the balloon effect. He could always get lucky.
Money. Venezuela apparently has the largest oil reserves in the world. Yes, it's heavy. That doesn't prevent the Canadians producing a lot of heavy too. Venezuela also apparently has a lot of gold, and certain people are obsessed with gold. That all adds up to money. More money that you'll ever see from watches, or guitars, or $1M/plate dinners.
The dope narrative is an excuse, like Curveball's talk about "mobile bioweapons labs" that didn't exist. Or the "yellowcake letter", that an ambassador told Bush was a forgery. Or the metal tubes "for enrichment centrifuges" that were actually for artillery rockets. And, of course, the "Prague meeting" that the FBI and Czech intelligence both said never happened, even though the VP kept talking about it.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 2
Money. Venezuela apparently has the largest oil reserves in the world. Yes, it's heavy.
Yes, I know. I hope not - we'd be back to the era of gunboat diplomacy with Latin America. We can make airy claims about the oil, but we have no claim about the gold. The drugs can move elsewhere. I'm not familiar with Dope's narrative, unless you're talking about that we should concentrate on the Pacific with China. I don't think an invasion of Venezuela is likely. V wasn't been able to develop its oil fields properly, and the Chinese have moved in, investing, and developing. The oil gets rebranded to get past sanctions, but there's no shortage of oil now, the tar sands are plenty. It would make more sense for T to embrace a dictatorship than invade. Venezuela is an authoritarian state but the bolichicos are younger, possibly more pliable. For now, I think it's show, but we've got three more years. Turning V against China would be difficult, if T manages it, another feather in his cap, but what kind of start is this? :) The problem with socialist regimes is that they never get there and break down into authoritarian states - we didn't let Chile take its chance at it, I agree, but its never worked.
Aside: Somehow we've got the get the US to the point where there are safeguards that effectively resist the pressure from our oligarchs to force taxes down.
No. of Recommendations: 10
"The dope narrative is an excuse..........."
Weird that America takes no responsibility for our role in the drug trafficking.
America is the largest customer base for all illicit drugs. American citizens
voluntarily buy the stuff, even though it's an illegal transaction. If America
was serious, it would put a whole lot more effort into getting its citizens to
stop being the biggest customer base worldwide, for street drugs.
And this isn't solely a Trump failure. Americans have been the biggest customer base
for illegal drugs my entire life, as far as I know. So this goes waaaaay back.
But Trump is calling for the murder of non-Americans, when he orders the military
to blow fishing boats out of the water. No due process, no evidence of the drugs,
just the words of Trump, Hegseth, and Noem. And their word is worthless. I
want to see proof that these boats were carrying drugs to America. And Trump
never provides proof of anything, he just does a verbal 3-Stooges Curley Shuffle
word salad.
No. of Recommendations: 1
It would make more sense for T to embrace a dictatorship than invade.That is what Maduro is reportedly attempting: negotiate an arty deal where Trump gets a piece of the action, for leaving Maduro alone. But Trump wants it all, because that is how "JCs" roll. Think about it. Once you are pulling down 7 figures per year, why would you want more? Because there is more to be grabbed. So "JC" paydays escalate into 8 figures. How can a person possibly use $20M per year, every year? But no, that wasn't enough for Jamie Dimon, so he had JPM pay him an extra $50M bonus, on top of his usual $30M, a few years ago. Where is the utility in an $80M payday?
JPMorgan shareholders vote against CEO Jamie Dimon’s pay
New York | JPMorgan Chase shareholders have voted against the bank’s executive pay plan, delivering a stinging rebuke to chief Jamie Dimon and his management team.
In a “say on pay” vote at the bank’s annual meeting on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST), only 31 per cent of investors voted in favour of JPMorgan’s 2021 plan,https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/j...While Dimon was walking off with an $80M total payday, JPM's shareholder return had trailed industry average during Dimon's watch.
And now Musk is setting the bar in the Billions.
Seems that money is nothing but a score keeping system to "JCs". They want to say "I have more than you".
That is why Trump wants Venezuela. Rubio would probably rather invade Cuba, but there is no vast fortune to be made in Cuba. So, his nibs invents a conflict with Venezuela.
Steve
No. of Recommendations: 0
You’ve overplayed that line of thinking, Jerry.
Not at all.
As long as Spankee keeps killing people, he remains a valid target.
What will vary is the amount of the reward for killing him.
No. of Recommendations: 1
That is what Maduro is reportedly attempting: negotiate an arty deal where Trump gets a piece of the action, for leaving Maduro alone>/i>
I think what they offered was Madurismo without Maduro. A transition where Maduro leaves, the bolichicos stay, and the US gets a piece of the action (including T I'm sure). I dunno what's up, but I'm against troops, a quick in-out situation might be tolerable, but we're likely to get stuck there for a bit. He may want the Chinese out, but I think the best he can do is limit them.
