"The Zionist far right wants to deliver this country to the demons! Who will prevail?"

— Maduro

Adding:

US' Caribbean buildup: Arms makers profit, taxpayers pay & Trump risks humiliation 

Donald Trump’s Operation Southern Spear is a cash machine for the US military-industrial complex.

Let's break it down:

🔴 At least ten CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft used by special ops soldiers flew into the Caribbean on December 22 from Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico, the Wall Street Journal reports. C-17 cargo planes from Fort Stewart and Fort Campbell also arrived in Puerto Rico

🔴 The US has also sent additional firepower, deploying F-35A fighters, EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets, and HH-60W rescue helicopters in the region

Hear the cash register ring 

🔴 US defense contractors profit heavily from maintenance and support at sea: sustainment costs, including repairs and spare parts, make up about 70% of a system’s total lifetime cost, according to US Government Accountability Office. The longer Operation Southern Spear continues, the more money US arms makers get 

🔴 Eye-watering price tags of the systems deployed, according to Defense One:

⚫️Initial naval task force:  $19.8B (amphibious assault ship + nuclear-powered attack submarine)

⚫️ Aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford that joined the armada later: $12.9B to build + $4.7B in research and development

⚫️ Three escort warships: Pushed total fleet costs past $40B

⚫️ At least 83 land-based aircraft (as of December 7):  ~$1.8B total, including: ten F-35Bs ($109M each), seven MQ-9 Reaper drones ($33M each), three P-8 Poseidons ($145M each), and one AC-130J gunship ($165M)

⚫️ Those are just procurement costs, while the group's operation costs are estimated at at least $18M per day

🔴 Costs for munitions reportedly used in Caribbean strikes:

⚫️ Hellfire missiles: $150,000–$220,000 each

⚫️ AGM-176 Griffin missiles: ~$127,000 each

⚫️ GBU-39B Small Diameter Bombs: ~$40,000 each

Bottom line: Operation Southern Spear is costly for US taxpayers and profitable only for defense contractors.

With Venezuela holding firm, the operation could soon become unsustainable, leaving Washington with just two options: withdraw or escalate.

Withdrawing would be humiliating; escalating could spark a deadly war.

Maybe Trump shouldn’t have even started this operation? 

Adding:

The U.S. Coast Guard is currently in pursuit of the Guyana-flagged, Iranian-linked crude oil tanker M/T Bella 1 in the North Atlantic, according to U.S. officials cited by Reuters.

The vessel, currently under U.S. sanctions, fled east into the Atlantic over the weekend after U.S. authorities attempted to intercept it in the southern Caribbean off the coast of Venezuela, ABC News reported earlier.

U.S. officials say they are now waiting for “specialized” assets and personnel to arrive before attempting to board and seize the tanker, which remains at large as the pursuit continues.