The World at Risk by Geoff Carter « The Pen in Hand Blog

Atttribution: Photo by Dave Photoz on Unsplash

By Geoff Carter

When we were kids growing up in the 1970s, we had no gaming consoles, smartphones, or laptops. No Fortnite, no Minecraft, no Call of Duty and no Grand Theft Auto. We didn’t even have DVDs or videos. What did we do on rainy days? We had broadcast TV or the radio, but we mostly played board games like Monopoly, Sorry, or Clue. One of our favorites was Parker Brothers’ Risk, the game of world domination.

The object of the game was to accumulate armies and attack neighboring countries with the ultimate goal of conquering the world. Owning every country in continents like Africa or South America would give you extra points, so governing an entire hemisphere was key. The game took a long time—hours—and it was a rarity when someone finally won the right to rule the world. Most of the time, people would get frustrated, angry, quit, or we would adjourn the game and decide to live in peace. There always seemed to be one kid who complained and whined and maybe threw a tantrum during play.

I thought of Risk while watching the Trump administration’s attack on Venezuela this past week. Not that the illegal kidnapping of a foreign leader is a game. Not that the deaths of eighty Venezuelans or the wanton destruction of property is a game. Not that the missile attacks on boats off the coast of Venezuela resulting in the deaths of over one hundred individuals is a game. Not that military extortion for oil is a game. Far from it.

But what I think—and what the American people think—doesn’t seem to matter to our present administration. President Trump and his cronies are playing an all-too serious game of world domination whether we like it or not. They seem to believe the world is their Risk board and countries are their game pieces. It was during a recent press conference, while Trump rambled on about taking over Colombia, Cuba, and Greenland when memories of the Risk gameboard came to me. It reminded me of my childhood game days.

Donald Trump has a history of acting impulsively, reflexively, without insight or foresight. He has limited knowledge of history or military strategy, although he loves the pomp and circumstance of military pageantry, so much so that he demanded a parade for his birthday. He seems to need attention, or approval—even if it is contrived—that badly.

The president reacts vindictively, like a spoiled child with a personality disorder. He tore down the East Wing of the White House without going through the proper channels, perhaps in reaction to the record crowds at the “No Kings” rallies the weekend before. He has weaponized the DOJ to go after legal adversaries like Jack Smith and Leticia James. Senator Mark Kelly—and the list goes on.

He likes to act like a tough guy—like your garden variety schoolyard bully. He deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles and Chicago for no rational reason—other than to satisfy his own ego. He pardoned every January 6^th rioter, even those convicted of violence acts against the Capitol police. He has endorsed violent white supremacist groups like the Pride Boys and Oathkeepers.

But like most children, the president is short-sighted. The mission to extract President Nicolas Maduro and his wife was reportedly well-planned and executed—by the military. As usual, American armed forces executed their orders with courage, efficiency, and professionalism. This was the part of the operation that the grown-ups took care of.

Subsequent planning for the future of Venezuela seems to have been as well-planned as most of the president’s other schemes. When pressed for reasons for the invasion of Venezuela, he hemmed and hawed and dithered and dickered. At first, he stated that the raid was because of Maduro’s complicity with the cocaine trade, but when confronted with the fact that Trump had just pardoned Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernadez for drug trafficking charges, administration officials changed course, maintaining it was not a military mission, but a law enforcement operation—despite the fact that over one hundred and fifty military aircraft were used. Then, during the press briefing the day after the operation, Trump started talking—incessantly, perhaps compulsively—about America taking back their oil from Venezuelan. He stated—erroneously or perhaps untruthfully—that he had spoken to American oil companies about this. Representatives from Chevron and ExxonMobil, among others, denied ever communicating with the administration about harvesting the oil—a multi-billion-dollar project which would provide a profit for years.

In the aftermath of the attack, the president has offered only vague and ludicrous ideas for dealing with a country whose leader he has just removed. After threatening Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez (who had just sworn in as interim president) with “worse” if she didn’t cooperate with the administration, she said Venezuela “will never return to being the colony of another empire” (Axios). So much for plan A.

If the administration really wanted to give the Venezuelan people an opportunity to install a truly democratic government, they should have supported opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who called for Edmundo Gonzales, widely acknowledged as true winner of the last presidential election.

And he has been vindictive in this case. Perhaps because she won the Nobel Peace Prize which Trump has so openly—and ludicrously—coveted, he wants to get back at her. He said of her “She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect to be a leader” (NPR). He also mentioned that he felt Maduro of “trying to imitate my dance” (New York Post). It’s hard to imagine a more juvenile sentiment—or comment.

Trump then maintained that he himself would be running Venezuela…

All of these fabrications, childishness, and posturing begs the question of why did Trump really do it? To prop up his manhood? To beget a new American colonial empire? To line his own pockets with profits from stolen Venezuelan oil? Is this an elaborate plan to divert attention away from his faltering domestic policies and the Epstein files?

These are all possibilities and may turn out be byproducts of this illegal and tragic attack on a sovereign nation, but they are not the true reason for this illegal invasion of a sovereign nation and the abduction of its president.

The sole reason for this attack is ego. Donald wants to win. He has to win. He’ll do anything to win. It’s part of his DNA. In the past, he has lied, he has cheated, and he has stolen to get ahead. The prime example of this is the January 6^thinsurrection. After losing the 2020 presidential election, he lied about the result, tried to coerce votes out of Georgia, was behind the scheme of false elector boards, and finally instigated the attack on the Capitol. He cannot stand to lose. Like the spoiled brat playing Risk, the one who steals armies and squawks and whines and storms off, he cannot stand to lose.

He’s been losing the battle of the Epstein files, the electoral popularity contest, and the support of his MAGA base. So, what does he do? He starts a fight he knows he cannot lose. Like a schoolyard bully, he picks on a smaller, weaker adversary.

Granted, the plans for extracting Maduro had been in the works for months but make no mistake. Trump had nothing to do with that. He let the military do the dirty work. Although he was not the mastermind behind this plot, it served his purposes. And I’m sure he will be more than willing to step up and take credit, and—of course—reap the profits.