Maneuver to Victory: The Ideal Post-Operation Venezuela – Breaking the Cycle of Failed Interventions, Before the Mid-terms

Donald Vandergriff

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The perfect post-3 January scenario for Operation Absolute Resolve (often referred to in strategic discussions as Operation Venezuela), from my perspective as a longtime advocate of mission command, maneuver warfare, and the generations of war framework, would represent a decisive break from the failed attrition-based approaches and prolonged occupations seen in past U.S. interventions.

The January 3, 2026, operation—codenamed Operation Absolute Resolve—captured Nicolás Maduro and his inner circle in a precision coup de main, blending 3rd Generation maneuver (rapid, decentralized exploitation) with 5th Generation enablers (information dominance, cyber-shaping, and non-kinetic isolation of the regime). This avoided the quagmires of 2nd Generation firepower-heavy occupations seen in Iraq or Afghanistan.