Threat

It’s possible that Rummy said this with a straight face:

“I don’t have any evidence…” that Venezuela will turn over some of the weapons to Colombian rebels, Rumsfeld told the Herald.

“All I said was, I asked the question … what in the world (is the threat) that Venezuela sees that makes them want to have all those weapons?”

Look, I’m pretty sure that the United States isn’t going to be invading Venezuela anytime soon. Then again, you never know with this crew. The question here, however, is whether Hugo Chavez could reasonably believe that the United States poses a military threat to his government. The answer to that question must be yes; the United States has already covertly supported a failed coup, and has stepped up pressure since Chavez’ victory in a referendum last year.

This administration hates Chavez with a passion that it normally reserves for, well, Latin American leftists. Check out the cover on a recent National Review, via Matt Duss. Latter day conservatives love fighting communists in Latin America, both because they think that the hippies love Che Guevara and because it makes them feel more like Ronald Reagan and Oliver North. When an administration, its cronies, and its “intellectual” base can’t stop making noises about how much it would like your regime to go, you may begin to feel threatened. Given this, it’s entirely rational for Chavez to want to buy lots of weapons.

Now, I’m not trying to be an apologist for Chavez. It’s clear that virtually all of the most extreme claims made about his regime by American conservatives are straightforward falsehoods. This doesn’t mean that he’s a great humanitarian, doesn’t mean that his economic program will work, and doesn’t mean that he won’t ship weapons to Colombian rebels. Chavez is, however, a good test case for a value conflict for this administration and its supporters. Do they prefer democracy, or do they prefer friends? It’s looking a lot like the latter. . .