It looks like
Rumsfeld is starting saber-rattling about a potential invasion of Venezuela.
I never fully believed that there was enough key support to initiate a suicidal attack on Iran to try to rally people behind the disintegrating Republican Party, though I do believe there are people in this regime crazy enough to try it.
Hugo Chavez and Venezuela seem made to order for fulfilling a key role in the Ledeen Doctrine: "Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business."
Question is: Will they try it?
A snippet from
the AP story:
MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld passed on an offer of Venezuelan tobacco, but tried to smoke out the government of President Hugo Chavez on the country's recent military buildup.
"I don't know of anyone threatening Venezuela, anyone in this hemisphere," said Rumsfeld, who is attending a meeting here of Western hemisphere military leaders -- many of them concerned about the weapons, jets and helicopters Chavez is buying.
Other countries in the region are worried that the weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists, Rumsfeld told reporters Monday, adding, "I can understand neighbors being concerned."
So far, Rummy doesn't seem to have any takers, but I can picture them ratcheting up and manufacturing a crisis sometime in the next two weeks. You've got to watch out for cornered elephants.
ITMFA.