{"id":68500,"date":"2019-02-10T19:44:17","date_gmt":"2019-02-10T19:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/10\/commentary-all-options-has-little-meaning\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:22:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:22:36","slug":"commentary-all-options-has-little-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2019\/02\/10\/commentary-all-options-has-little-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: \u2018All options\u2019 has little meaning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Feb. 3, President Donald Trump again said that U.S. military intervention<\/a> was a possibility if worse came to worse in Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll options are on the table,\u201d he swaggered<\/a> the week before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has become a signature American threat \u2014 all options \u2014 born of the 1990 Gulf War against Saddam, one that suggests invasion and full scale conventional war and even nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as war cries go, though, \u201call options\u201d has little real meaning. Far from affirming the president\u2019s bluster, the Pentagon is, in fact, in possession of no formal campaigns specific to Venezuela<\/a>, this according to multiple current and senior military officers who are or have been involved in contingency planning. Nuclear weapons are certainly preposterous, they say, but there are also no actual plans, preparations, or, indeed, the inclination for any kind of conventional invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there is a dirty secret with regard to Venezuela \u2014 one that is the case with almost every contingency the Pentagon ponders \u2015 and that is that none of what is actually being bandied about originates in the Trump White House. Most of what does exist was not even formulated under Obama, Bush or Clinton. All of it follows a standard Pentagon playbook and fill-in-the-boxes checklist that should be both comforting for those who think \u201cTrump\u201d commands anything, and sobering for those who think the Pentagon is an amazing acrobat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day before Trump\u2019s blustering statement, Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr., the outgoing chairman<\/a> of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed the White House on the disposition of American forces and the various contingency plans that could be implemented were force required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to two officers involved in Dunford\u2019s briefing, key residences and command facilities of the Maduro circle and his Venezuelan military cronies were mapped into the bullseye of American air power<\/a>. Special operators were readying strike raids and options to protect American diplomats and assets. CIA counterparts were talking with the bad-guys and the Venezuelan military command to communicate American threats and promises. Clandestine actions were being taken to deal with Russian<\/a>, Chinese and even Iranian troublemakers on the ground. Cyber disruptions and influence operations had begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that was all. Ships could be moved and overflights increased and force positioned to \u201csignal\u201d American engagement<\/a>. But all options? U.S. invasion<\/a>? Whatever table they exist on is purely a very empty one in the president\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\t