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The U.S. military destroyed another boat off the coast of Venezuela this week that the White

House alleges was carrying narcotics bound for the U.S.

Both in his first term and his current one, the president and his team

have made clear they want Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power. And now Mr.

Trump has raised the prospect of striking Venezuela on land.

Off the coast of Venezuela, strike after strike in the Caribbean Sea, targeting small boats, allegedly carrying illegal

drugs and headed to the U.S. since early September, five such U.S. military strikes, four of them

on boats from Venezuela. This week, an escalation. We are certainly looking at land now because

we've got the sea very well under control. With President Trump confirming yesterday that the CIA is conducting covert operations

inside Venezuela.

I authorized me for two reasons, really.

Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America.

And the other thing of drugs, we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela.

And a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea.

It's an expansion of what the Pentagon has called a counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism mission,

an armada of U.S. warships already deployed off the Venezuelan coast, and B-52 bombers to nearby international airspace.

Not war. Just pits.

...