Sen. Tom Cotton is brushing aside comparisons between the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the 2003 operation that brought down Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” the Arkansas Republican said the “analogy to the Iraq war is flawed.”
“Latin America is not the Middle East,” Mr. Cotton said. “It’s an ethnically, religiously, culturally homogeneous country.”
“It does have a long history of stability and prosperity and working with America for decades before Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro ruined the country,” he said.
Mr. Cotton argued that the military operation to seize Mr. Maduro is more akin to President George H.W. Bush’s 1989 mission to arrest Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted on drug‑trafficking charges.
“That was a successful operation,” he said. “I believe, in the long run, this will be too.”
The United States launched a covert mission in Venezuela on Saturday, leading to the capture of Mr. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Military officials said the mission involved about 150 aircraft that knocked out Venezuela’s air defenses so U.S. helicopters could move troops into Caracas.
Mr. Maduro and Ms. Flores were flown to New York City, where they face charges tied to a narco‑terrorism conspiracy.
The operation immediately drew comparisons to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when U.S. forces moved in to topple Saddam Hussein and eliminate what the U.S. administration said were weapons of mass destruction.
That war stretched on for nearly nine years, cost taxpayers an estimated $3 trillion and left more than 4,000 U.S. troops dead. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died.
Initial support for the Iraq war was high but eroded over time. Most Americans now say it was not worth fighting. Critics have cited it as a central part of America’s “forever wars” and have highlighted the challenges that come from regime change and military interventionism.
After Mr. Maduro’s capture, President Trump said the United States will “run” Venezuela until there can be a “safe, proper and judicious transition.”
“We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation we had for the last long period of years,” Mr. Trump said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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