The Iraq War

It Fascinates me because We’re Watching the Same Script Play Out From Baghdad to Caracas

I remember how loudly President Trump campaigned as an anti-war president. He repeatedly said he opposed the 2003 Iraq Invasion and used that stance to cast himself as the leader who would avoid the costly mistakes of the past. I liked and bought into that argument. I wanted a president who would put American lives and dollars first — who would stop sending sons and daughters into nation-building campaigns that cost us dearly.

But what I am watching unfold in Venezuela makes me feel like history is repeating itself in a very dangerous way. The tools are the same kinds of tools we saw before: public demonization of an enemy leader, a buildup of military might in the region, covert operations authorized under the banner of law enforcement or national security, and rhetoric that hints at regime change as the real objective.

In this case, the Trump administration has publicly confirmed it authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela and has sent an aircraft carrier and other forces into the Caribbean — moves framed as counter-narco operations. These are real actions with real consequences, not just campaign bluster. Whether you call it narco-security, counter-terrorism or something else, the escalation risks dragging us into a foreign conflict with unchecked costs and consequences.

Here’s the simple argument I keep coming back to: we should do what is best for us at home. Our primary responsibility is to protect American citizens and communities. Right now there are problems on our streets that deserve as much attention and resources as any foreign intervention. I live in — and love — this country, and I’m tired of seeing our federal power projected abroad before we’ve done what’s necessary here.

Take Philadelphia. Kensington and other neighborhoods have been called the East Coast’s largest open-air drug markets. We are living with the consequences of an illicit market that kills people with fentanyl, tears apart families, fuels violent crime, and leaves neighborhoods in squalor. Federal, state and local law enforcement have a role to play — and so does policy that addresses treatment, housing and economic opportunity. If we’re serious about protecting Americans, that’s where a lot of our energy and resources should go.

I’m not arguing for isolationism for the sake of ideology. I understand there are legitimate national-security concerns when transnational criminal organizations threaten the homeland. But there’s a big difference between targeted, multilateral action with clear legal authority and contingency plans for rebuilding — and unilateral covert operations, military posturing and incentives for regime collapse that echo the mistakes of 2003.

Further heightening the danger: other South American countries and social-movement groups are already signalling their willingness to defend Venezuela should an invasion take place. In Brazil, for example, the Landless Workers’ Movement has called for the formation of “internationalist brigades … to go to Venezuela and place ourselves at the disposal of the Venezuelan government and people.” Regional solidarity is forming around a defensive posture — which raises the stakes significantly for the United States should we push deeper.

Let Venezuelans — who have lived under decades of political turmoil, sanctions and misrule — determine their own future. If the goal is to help the Venezuelan people, then diplomacy, humanitarian aid, and multilateral pressure that includes our allies in the hemisphere will be more effective and more legitimate than the bluster and covert operations that risk looking like another American attempt to pick winners and impose regimes.

We are at a crossroads. The country needs leaders who keep their promises and who put domestic safety and prosperity front and center. I backed a candidate who promised to avoid the worst impulses of the post-9/11 era. I still want that. I want my government to stay focused on the people I see every day in my town, my city and my state — not to repeat the costly foreign-policy cycles that have hollowed out neighborhoods and left new generations paying the bill.

If we’re going to spend American lives and treasure overseas, give me a full and honest conversation about why that choice is necessary. For now, my vote and my voice go to fixing our streets, securing our borders through the rule of law, and investing in American families. Let Venezuela sort out its problems. We have urgent problems at home to solve first.