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WHEN SADDAM HUSSEIN FOUND HIM-self in U.S. custody months after a shock and awe invasion swiftly toppled his government, one FBI agent—as later recalled by former President George W. Bush—famously cited the Iraqi leader as saying: “I just didn’t believe Bush.” It’s hard not to attribute a similar mentality to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, now detained along with his wife, Cilia Flores, at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York City, to face charges of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. It follows a daring, roughly two-hour-long Delta Force raid that seized the couple out of their home on in the early hours of January 3. Just days earlier, the Venezuelan leader was seen dancing in the streets of Caracas, lauding the mobilization of millions of militia fighters and even reportedly…

“So, about all that Venezuelan oil,” said Rogé Karma in The Atlantic. In recent days, President Trump has settled on a new rationale for ousting Nicolás Maduro, that his primary goal is not to liberate Venezuela’s people from tyranny but to liberate the estimated 300 billion barrels of crude oil sitting beneath their country. Trump promised that American oil firms will soon “go in” to Venezuela—which he will “run” for the foreseeable future—and start generating great gobs of money. Setting aside the morality of using military force to plunder a weaker nation, Trump’s plan is “delusional” on its own terms. Venezuela’s oil sector lies in ruin after two decades of kleptocratic rule. As top oil executives gently explained in a White House meeting this week, rebuilding it would cost perhaps…

James Kirchick The New York Times President Trump’s “surreal” quest to seize Greenland from Denmark “sends a disturbing message to the world,” said James Kirchick. He has insisted that the Danes lack the strength and will to protect Greenland from predations by China and Russia, while Vice President JD Vance has called fellow NATO member Denmark not “a good ally.” Both claims, based on reflexive hostility toward Europe, are utterly false. Denmark has actually been a very loyal ally and “punches far above its weight militarily.” It was one of the only NATO members to join the U.S.’s initial Iraq invasion and suffered many casualties bravely fighting alongside the U.S. in Afghanistan. Contrary to right-wing stereotypes about Europe, Denmark has adopted strict immigration measures and leans right on most social…