The intervention of the US into Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro is the “exact opposite” of the US invasion of Iraq, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said.
According to Hegseth, where the two interventions differ is that his country got nothing in return after the invasion of Iraq over two decades ago.
Speaking for CBS Evening News, the US defence chief said that “we spent decades and decades and purchased in blood, and got nothing economically in return, and President Trump flips the script”.
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US forces captured Maduro and brought him to American soil on Saturday, where he is to face drug trafficking charges.
Hegseth oversaw the military operation by the American forces in Venezuela that led to Maduro’s capture, alongside other senior Trump administration officials.
And Trump was quick to make a statement on Saturday, as he said that “we’re going to run the country until there is a safe, proper and judicious transition” of power in Venezuela, and that he would “get the oil flowing.”
The US can make sure it has access to “additional wealth and resources, enabling a country to unleash that without having to spend American blood”, Hegseth added, calling it a strategic action.
“I mean, this was a bold and audacious move, but it was thought through. It was well orchestrated. Our military had time to set it up, to provide the resources, and then he took that bold stroke. And through it, we flipped that very dynamic, and Americans will benefit”, Hegseth told CBS News.
Hegseth added that Trump is a “president of action”, as he was asked what comes next in terms of other American adversaries around the globe and what message this sends to those countries.
“This is a president of action, and you don’t get peace in this dangerous world without strength. So, all around the world to take notice, American leadership is back — when he says something matters, it does, and we will take the necessary action with the full weight of the Department of War”, he concluded.
Trump started taking direct action against Venezuela in the name of ‘the war on drugs’, by ordering the US military to carry out attacks on small trafficking boats bringing drugs to the US.