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The Venezuela Operation Is a Remarkable Display of the US Military’s Strength and Innovation
A demonstrator uses a megaphone during a protest against US military action in Venezuela, at Lafayette Square in front of the White House, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US military has struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, in Washington, D.C., US, January 3, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Since the days of Thomas Jefferson’s war against the Barbary pirates, the US military has protected our people and our way of life, regardless of the situation presented to them by the political establishment.
In Venezuela, more than 150 aircraft, including fighter aircraft, bombers, surveillance aircraft, intelligence aircraft, and helicopters, flew from 20 different bases. The mission included the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Space Force, as well as the CIA, NGA, and NSA. “We watched, we prepared, we remained patient and professional,” US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Dan Caine, told the assembled press at President Donald Trump’s news conference on Saturday.
US intelligence knew Maduro’s pattern of life – where he moved, lived, traveled, ate, and worked. The military made plans accordingly. Caine said the mission was “meticulously planned” and was “the culmination of months of planning and rehearsals.”
Quietly, discreetly, our military planned for the day it would be ordered to act. The military displayed the same prowess when it launched operation’s against Iran’s nuclear program last year, and in many other bold strikes overseas.
In response to a clear military success, however, a significant segment of Congress is jumping up and down, decrying the secrecy of the administration in extracting from his fortress a criminal dictator under indictment in the US, and complaining about violation of Federal law. But many of these same people were silent when the Obama administration ordered more than 542 drone strikes killing 3,797 people, including an American aid worker and his Italian colleague, and a 16-year-old American citizen who was in the car with his father, the target. SEAL Team 6 was used in Grenada, Panama, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and, of course, in Pakistan, where President Obama ordered the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Presidents Clinton, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush all took similar actions.
In his remarks Saturday, Gen. Caine said, “We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again and again, not to get it right, but to ensure that we cannot get it wrong. Our jobs are to integrate combat power so when the order comes, we can deliver overwhelming force at the time and the place of our choosing against any foe anywhere in the world.”
This calls to mind the response by President Obama’s then-Press Secretary Jay Carney in response to a question about the use of drones without informing Congress or the government of the country in which the drones were operating. The Washington Post reported, “Carney suggested that nothing Obama had said could be a security violation: ‘He’s the commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States. He’s the president of the United States.’”
Military operations to secure our country do not require a “declaration of war” by Congress. They do, however, require a ready, precise, and well-led military to achieve their goals. The United States has such a force. It is a blessing.
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of the Jewish Policy Center and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly magazine.
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Exclusive: Israeli Officials Harshly Critical of Steve Witkoff’s Influence on US Policy on Gaza, Iran, i24NEWS Told
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Amid growing disagreements with the Trump administration over the composition of the Board of Peace for Gaza and the question of a strike on Iran, officials in Israel point to a key figure behind decisions seen as running counter to Israeli interests: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The officials mention sustained dissatisfaction with Witkoff. Sources close to the PM Netanyahu told i24NEWS on Saturday evening: “For several months now, the feeling has been that envoy Steve Witkoff has strong ties, for his own reasons, across the Middle East, and that at times the Israeli interest does not truly prevail in his decision-making.”
This criticism relates both to the proposed inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in Gaza’s governing bodies and to the Iranian threat. A senior Israeli official put it bluntly: “If it turns out that he is among those blocking a strike on Iran, that is far more than a coincidence.”
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EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
European Union leaders on Saturday warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over US President Donald Trump‘s vow to implement increasing tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa said in posts on X.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.
“Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.
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Israel Says US Gaza Executive Board Composition Against Its Policy
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza. This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named. Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.