War With Venezuela - Land Targets Identified
With the massive aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford now in position, the US has more than enough military assets to strike and invade both land and sea targets in Latin America. They are using the "war on drugs" as a pretext for regime change. Maduro is a cruel dictator and needs to go, but like all of our other meddling in countries around the world, there is no plan for what happens next or who will take the toppled government over if/when we leave.
A classified Trump DoJ memo claims that US troops are not liable for the strikes against alleged "drug boats" but the legal experts disagree. The memo claims the 'non-international armed conflict' is carried out under Article II (Executive Branch) authorities, which is bullshit. Congress is the only one with the power to declare war, and they have not done so. The GOP did block a resolution trying to prevent a war with Venezuela, which leaves Trump an opening to strike. He is trying to fabricate a "war" in order to get around the murder statutes.
Even if we were to believe these strikes were legal under US law (and they are not), they are still clearly in violation of the UN and international laws. Our troops could still be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the crimes they commit. The USA is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, but if they ever visit a country that is a member they can be arrested and extradited to The Hague. We can also learn a lot from the Nuremberg Trials against the Nazis in Germany where 199 defendants were tried, 161 were convicted, and 37 were sentenced to death for their war crimes, crimes against humanity, and their conspiracy to commit those crimes.
Our troops are typically held accountable through the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). The UCMJ allows murders (Article 118) and assaults (Article 128) even in time of war to be prosecuted by military courts (Article 18). The UCMJ also specifically says that a president cannot authorize troops to commit crimes that are also violations of the law of war. Officers can also be held accountable.
Our troops deployed to Latin America operations have been forced to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA) which is very unusual, because they are already restricted by other laws. The Trump administration knows what it is doing is illegal, but doesn't seem to care.
Venezuela has already activated it's military and called up militia groups who are ready to defend their homeland. Maduro is exaggerating about the numbers, but they have enough assets to cause our troops a problem with guerilla warfare. Striking Venezuela is not only illegal, it is going to be a big mistake!