Veterans Denounce U.S. Military Actions in Venezuela

The Unite for Veterans Coalition (U4V) condemns today’s U.S. military strike in Venezuela and the U.S’s stated efforts to exert political control over the country. While Nicolás Maduro was a repressive autocrat who lacked democratic legitimacy, our military should be employed only with clear authorization from Congress.

This intervention comes at a moment when the administration is cutting veterans’ healthcare, benefits, and support services at home. Launching a new military action while reducing access to VA care, mental health services, and earned benefits reflects a fundamental misalignment of priorities. Military force carries long-term costs that do not end when the fighting stops, including lifelong care obligations to those who serve. Expanding conflicts abroad while withdrawing support from veterans at home repeats a familiar and damaging pattern: sending service members into harm’s way without fully honoring the commitments made to them afterward.

Decisions that place troops in harm’s way must be made lawfully, deliberately, and with a clear purpose and plan. History shows that when the United States engages in unilateral military action or regime change, we too often slide into open-ended conflicts that cost lives, strain families, and erode public trust. With every conflict, we have an obligation to care for those who bear the battle after the fighting stops. The long-term implications of a military intervention, whether domestically or overseas, must be considered before action is taken. We cannot endure another set of poorly thought-out wars that create a generation of veterans who return to a lack of services.

That is why military action must comply not only with U.S. law, but with international law as well. We cannot allow the abuses of the Maduro regime to justify an unsanctioned U.S. military intervention. Extra-legal uses of force endanger American troops by normalizing similar behavior by other nations and risk pulling the United States into prolonged conflicts without clear limits or accountability.

The Constitution requires Congress to decide when we fight so no American is sent into harm’s way by one person alone. That safeguard is there as  a promise to those who serve and a cornerstone of the democracy we swore to defend.

For press contact, please email: info@unite4vets.org

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