Two U.S. F-18 fighter jets flying in tandem entered Venezuelan airspace around noon Tuesday, circling over the Gulf of Venezuela in the latest show of force against the regime of Nicolás Maduro.
The flyover — carried out despite the Venezuelan regime’s possession of a number of Russian-made anti-aircraft batteries — took place less than 100 miles northeast of Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second-largest city. Thousands of Venezuelans tracked the aircraft online through specialized tracking websites, watching as the jets traced a bow-tie-shaped pattern over the gulf.
The fighters remained inside Venezuelan airspace for at least 40 minutes at an altitude of roughly 25,000 feet before heading north and leaving the area.
I guess. It’s frustrating that it takes so long and involves so much suffering.
Despite the deep pockets and general indifference to casualties, I think that the American populace will react to sudden large losses. Like, we collectively don’t seem to care if 3 thousand US troops are killed during a prolonged engagement lasting years. But if 3 thousand died in a single event, like a ship sinking, people would be fucking pissed. A lot of that anger would be channeled into a desire for retaliation. Some of it would also be directed at the leadership that put that ship in harms way.