Recently Kevin Price, Host of the nationally syndicated Price of Business Show, interviewed John D. O’Connor.
Many questions have been raised about military operations against and within Venezuela, most accompanied by howls of protest. To address the recent incursion, arrest and extraction of President Maduro and his wife, U.S. Courts have approved a broader invasion in the arrest of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. The “Take Care” Clause of the Constitution gives the President the authority to execute laws of the United States, which he was accomplishing here. The broader question of further “leverage” against the Venezuelan regime, is consistent with the President’s national security powers under the Constitution’s designation of him as Commander in Chief of the armed forces; and also American history going back to President Thomas Jefferson’s aggression against Barbary Pirates controlled by foreign governments; up to our bombing of Serbia, Libya, and invasion of Haiti, none of them declared wars needing congressional approval, a matter only of political courtesy. In short, we should all be optimistic about our actions designed to help the people of Venezuela while depriving malign governments of hemispheric influence and oil to evade sanctions. Politics should stop, but are not stopping, at the water’s edge.
