Venezuela and Trump's Plunder Doctrine
By DANIEL LARISON February 20, 2019, 8:25 PM
It seems that the idea of attacking Venezuela is never very far from Trumps mind:
In a July 2017 private briefing with intelligence officials, President Donald Trump apparently asked why the US wasnt at war with Venezuela, noting that they have all that oil and theyre right on our back door.
The latest claim is found in Andrew McCabes book, but it shouldnt be dismissed. It is consistent with Trumps many public and private statements floating the idea of invading Venezuela. Trump first publicly threatened military intervention as an option in August 2017. This latest report indicates that he was already thinking along these lines at least a month earlier. Trump returned to this idea again and again in private meetings with advisers and regional leaders, and it didnt seem to matter that everyone he talked to about it told him why it would be a disaster. Just a few weeks ago, Trump was once again musing about an invasion to Lindsey Graham, who described the president as being really hawkish on Venezuela.
In the past, Trumps advisers and U.S. regional partners have dissuaded the president from pressing ahead with his horrible idea, but it keeps coming up for two important reasons: Trump is absolutely not a non-interventionist, and he sees countries rich in natural resources as desirable targets for plunder. Trumps initial support for intervening in Libya included the suggestion that the U.S. should get to take control of the countrys oil as a reward. His belated opposition to the Iraq war was founded on his dissatisfaction with the fact that the U.S. didnt take Iraqs oil. He has expressed the hope that maybe well get another chance to do so. It is easy to believe that Trump entertained the idea of war with Venezuela for the express purpose of seizing their oil resources, because he has consistently and repeatedly expressed an interest in plundering the resources of other countries as spoils of war. This is what I call Trumps plunder doctrine, and it is one of the few consistent features of his foreign policy worldview. That bodes ill for Trumps present and future decisions on Venezuela policy, and it should be a warning to all of us that the president will have no problem with starting an unnecessary and illegal war if he thinks there is some advantage to be gained.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/venezuela-and-trumps-plunder-doctrine/
(Short article, no more at link.)
When I saw the title and the source, I was driven by curiosity to see WTF had happened that a conservative publication would actually print an article on a subject like this. What a surprise! Amazing.