Voters Who Oppose Wars of Choice Have Nowhere to Turn

Although majorities don’t seem bothered by the administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela, a full-blown war is another story: In polling on Venezuela, YouGov found that 55 percent of Americans “would oppose the U.S. invading Venezuela,” while just 15 percent would support it (the rest were unsure); 46 percent “would oppose a military overthrow of Maduro,” while only 18 percent would support it. But the foreign-policy analysts Evan Cooper and Alessandro Perri of the Stimson Center, an international-security think tank, argue that “the Trump administration’s approach is strategically unsound, risking increased regional instability and hostility towards the United States.” A direct attack on Venezuela would fuel anti-American sentiment throughout the region, they say, advantaging China as it vies with the U.S. for influence there. The times had indeed found Paine, and the rest of our Founders, who summoned the courage to declare independence from a king; to win a war against the strongest empire in the world; and to write our Constitution (thank goodness they made it amendable).

Author: Conor Friedersdorf

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