Meghan L. O’Sullivan
Venezuela is not Iraq. But much as the legacy of U.S. President George W. Bush became tied to Iraq’s fate, President Donald Trump’s legacy now depends in some measure on how events unfold in Venezuela. There are, of course, key differences between Washington’s 2003 invasion of Iraq and the operation against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro: most obviously, Bush pursued the ouster of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with an invading force of more than 150,000 American troops. He acted after the UN passed 16 resolutions condemning Saddam’s activities, Washington assembled a coalition of 49 supporting countries, and Congress authorized the use of force. By contrast, Trump’s “Operation Absolute Resolve” to extract Maduro was a surprise to everyone, including Congress, and involved some 200 Americans over the course of two and a half hours.
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