by
Austin BayJanuary 6, 2026
The Pentagon's special operations arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro rates as a legend-making commando snatch raid. No U.S. fatalities. Zero. The dictator-drug lord and his criminal consort were seized and brought to U.S. soil for trial. Reportedly, scores of Maduro's trusted bodyguards died defending him, which suggests several Cuban mercenaries and maybe a Russian intel hireling or two no longer blight Planet Earth.
In the carefully planned and executed combat chaos of the U.S. assault, a legally credentialed official (DEA agent?) gave Maduro his Miranda rights. Yes, Maduro's a Venezuelan dictator, but in 2020 a U.S. federal court indicted him for money laundering (on a massive scale) and directing the systemic smuggling of deadly drugs that kill U.S. citizens by the hundreds of thousands. So Maduro got Mirandaed. Even he has the right to silence and an attorney.
The 2024 Midnight Hammer B-2 bomber raid on Iranian nuclear weapons production facilities is an act of Raid War. Midnight Hammer demonstrated rogue weapons and logistics facilities (including drug smuggling facilities) can and will be destroyed and the bad actors can do little to prevent it.
By removing the threat of Iranian nuclear destruction, the Midnight Hammer raid forwarded U.S. peace and economic diplomacy in the Middle East. Ayatollah nukes threatened both Israel and Gulf Arabs. Moreover, the raid demonstrated American deep-penetrating bombs can reach the ayatollahs hiding in underground bunkers. Yes, the robes are also vulnerable to Israeli covert action. That's the penalty for waging war on Israel.
However, the ayatollahs' biggest enemy is the Iranian people. The ayatollahs have routinely arrested, tortured or shot them in the streets. However, Midnight Hammer showed the ayatollahs can't defend their precious nukes. Now we hear high-quality rumors. Senior regime thugs are moving money to safer havens. A sign they are preparing to flee?
These rumors predate the Venezuelan raid, but the Maduro snatch will only intensify ayatollah fears.
Together the Maduro arrest and Midnight Hammer demonstrate rogue and criminal leaders and rogue weapons and logistics facilities (including drug smuggling facilities) can and will be destroyed. Moreover, the bad actors can do little about it.
Indeed. Raid War is definitely central to Trump Era international diplomacy. Very specifically targeted Raid War strikes demonstrate that the Trump administration has the political will to use unique U.S. military and police capabilities that, when employed, hold kingpin cartelistas, warlord killers and other megalomaniacal bad actors personally and physically responsible for their crimes.
The goals of Raid War strikes depend on the target's crimes, capabilities, location and degree of threat.
In the case of Venezuela, the immediate and intermediate goal is to curtail and ultimately stop bad actors from exporting crime, drug poison, criminals and potential terrorists to U.S. territory for their own enrichment. The intermediate goal is to stop the thugs from aiding an enemy power who wishes to culturally, economically and psychologically weaken the U.S. For Venezuela, that enemy power is China. Maduro's regime was a proxy army in the "disintegrative war" Beijing wages on America.
Ultimately, Washington's goal (no matter which party is in charge) should be restoring Venezuelan democracy and economic vitality. Before Maduro's socialist predecessor, Hugo Chavez, came to power, Venezuela was the wealthiest country in South America.
The Iranian case isn't all that different. Iran is another Chinese sewer ally -- a dark actor undermining American economic and political interests and capabilities to the advantage of Beijing. However, stabilizing the Middle East and promoting regional economic integration also serves a global interest.
Is Trump's Raid War legal? Yes. The Constitution gives the president the power to strike at American enemies and to defend U.S. interests. Woodrow Wilson did it (Pershing Punitive Expedition). Barack Obama killed hundreds of terrorists using air and drone strikes. And I applauded. In January 2020, (Trump Administration One) American missiles killed Iranian terror kingpin Qassem Soleimani. Soleimani was the chief architect of Iran's proxy terror and militia organizations throughout the world. He provided operational direction to violent Iranian proxies operating in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Africa. The Pentagon concluded Soleimani was responsible for killing over 600 U.S. military personnel in Iraq.
Justice served.