Arthur Keller

Beavertown

Many prior presidents protected the executive branch’s prerogative to use military force in specific situations without formal prior authorization from the legislative branch/congress. Only declaring war requires congressional approval, military actions do not. President Trump’s action is no exception. In addition, everyone should be aware that Congress is like a sieve when it comes to keeping secrets. There have been investigations to root out the perpetrators to no avail. We all know that “loose lips sink ships” and can jeopardize the mission leading to increased casualties even disasters.

President Bush’s arrest and prosecution of the onetime Panamanian leader Manuel Noriego in 1989 is just one example. President Clinton used the military in Somalia in 1993, Haiti in 1994, Bosnia in 1995 and Kosovo in 1999 without prior congressional approval. President Obama used the military in Libya in 2011, in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia in 2001 and against ISIS in Iraq in 2014 and against Osama bin Laden in 2011 without prior congressional approval. President Biden ordered military actions and air strikes against Syria in Feb 2021, Iraq throughout his administration, Yemen in Jan 2024 and Somalia without formal congressional authorization.

The raid on Venezuela went off without a hitch. Maduro, charged in 2020 as a narco-terrorist and drug trafficking with a $50M reward for his capture, and his wife were captured and transported to New York to face trial on federal charges. If this mission were carried out by anyone but Donald Trump, the Democrats and their news media would have been silent. If it were up to the Democrats, we would still have open borders, drugs flowing freely, generations of our youth dying from illegal drugs, sex trade of our children rampant in America (Pennsylvania ranks 9th among our states.), Socialism threatening our freedoms and Russia/China knocking at our door in the Western Hemisphere. Thank goodness we have a president who can make the tough decisions protecting our children, our people, our Democracy.