- by Denis Doherty
- The Guardian
- Issue #2175
The recent attack on Venezuela was obviously done with overwhelming force and superior technology. Many of the Chavista were expecting a conventional war which would have meant fighting on streets, in jungles and in the mountains. Instead, the US attacked with its superior fire power and technological advantages. This is not to admire the US tactics but to further condemn their complete lack of morality.
Years ago, we were calling the US a ‘military giant and a moral pygmy.’ The Trump administration used gangster tactics and have no regard for international law. They believe might is right and that Venezuela is in their ‘backyard’ and they have the right to manipulate and steal in any way there see fit. The mystery of how the attack took place and that there did not seem to be any response has started off many rumours of a 5th column and CIA bribery. While there were some injuries among the Delta Force and one helicopter was badly shot up and only just made it back to the US Navy ship, there were around 100 Cubans and Venezuelans murdered. More information will come out in the following weeks but now let’s just look at two aspects of the US attack. What we do know is that the US military used the Growler aircraft and Delta Force.
Growlers
Boeing EA-18G Growler aircraft were sent alongside jet fighters and bombers so that electronic warfare could be used to overwhelm Venezuela’s air defence and radar mechanisms. The Growler aircraft can fly at Mach 1.8 and is equipped with jamming equipment to turn off air defence batteries, communications and radar. At the twinkling of an eye, the Growlers turned off all systems that would have been used to defend Caracas and President Maduro. Communications were cut and a follow-up bomber hit the electricity system in key suburbs making the city dark. Caracas was blind and dumb without light, communications or weapons to shoot back at the US gangster raiders.
Australia has 24 Growlers stationed at Amberley RAAF Base near Ipswich Queensland.
Delta Force
The US has numerous ‘special forces’; Green Berets, Navy Seals and so on, but the apex of these special forces is Delta Force. Delta Force is based in and around the towns surrounding Fort Bragg California USA. The book Fort Bragg Cartel by Seth Harp described Delta Force as functioning as “a high-tech death squad dedicated to covertly liquidating the male population base of recalcitrant ethnic and tribal groups that resist US military occupation.” According to Harp, people from Delta Force come back traumatised and with a skill set of killing and drug addiction that requires drug pushing and drug importation. The many accounts of Delta Force involvement with drugs make Trump’s accusations of Venezuelan involvement in the drug trade very ironic.
Slavish Danish lesson for Australia
Denmark has behaved slavishly towards the US since World War II. The Danes were the first to sign the NATO treaty. They deployed soldiers to both Iraq and Afghanistan when the US launched the ‘Global War on Terrorism.’ Fifty of their soldiers never came home. The Danes were the first to recognise Kosovo during the war against Serbia. This devotion has not been reciprocated by the US when it comes to Greenland.
The basis of Australia’s devotion to the US alliance is based on a similar misconception about the role of the US in the world. The US acts in its imperialist interests and is not constrained by any feelings of loyalty to allies. The lessons of the slavish Danish should not be lost on Australian policy makers, and it would be wise if Australia distanced itself from the US.
