Summary

President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration are debating the extent of potential U.S. military action against Mexican drug cartels.

Options discussed include targeted airstrikes, cyberattacks, covert operations, and “soft invasions” using special forces. Trump has warned Mexico to curb fentanyl trafficking or face military intervention.

His key appointees, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, support some form of military action, framing cartels as terrorist threats.

Critics fear this could escalate tensions with Mexico and spark significant international controversy.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    22 days ago

    It’s a bit more complicated than most people realize. They know about Vietnam (loss), Iraq (win), and Afghanistan (loss). But there’s also;

    More recently -

    • The Philippines (win),
    • Lebanon (draw, objective achieved, but no decisive victory)
    • Somalia (draw, transition government was not deposed, no decisive victory),

    And through the years -

    • The Indian Wars 1776-1923 (win, massive war crimes),
    • US-Algiers (loss, impetus for creating the Navy),
    • The Barbary Wars (win),
    • Taiping Rebellion (Win),
    • Kansas mini Civil War (1854, goes into actual Civil War, Abolitionist win)
    • Second Opium war (win)
    • Utah Secession (win),
    • Mexican Civil War (win),
    • Cortina War (win),
    • Formosa Expedition (loss),
    • Garza War (win),
    • Las Cuevas War (win),
    • Boxer Rebellion (win),
    • Mexican Border War (win),
    • Banana Wars 1912-1934 (win)
    • Philippines Rebellion (win, but they do resurface for a modern conflict)

    You can see why we were a tad over confident going into Vietnam and even afterwards we thought we just needed to make some adjustments to our tactics.