Trump’s Cargo Cult Imperialism in Venezuela

When the Bush administration was planning and selling its war of aggression against Iraq in 2002, a common argument made by anti-war activists was that the whole thing was about oil. By toppling Saddam Hussein’s government, American oil companies could swoop in and make a profit selling cheap oil to Americans so they could keep driving huge SUVs to their suburban McMansions.

This didn’t make all that much sense—for one thing, the war and occupation ended up costing on the order of $3 trillion...