Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax on Monday that the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was a tremendous, historic accomplishment.
"There's lots of experiences in our military history or operations that measure up to this," Holt said on "Finnerty."
"But when you match pure capability with the audacity of a president who understands the stakes and what this war on the cartels means in terms of protecting American lives, I would go back to the crossing of the Delaware on Christmas night by George Washington, where he killed the British, the drunken British in their sleep," Holt added.
"I have never seen perfection in this particular operation mission like we had that night. It was exquisite," Holt said.
Holt said the capture of Maduro sent a message to the rest of the world.
"Not only is the American military at its highest state of readiness, but that President [Donald] Trump has so much confidence in that military that he can hand them missions like that, knowing full well they'll be accomplished, and that he will actually take that decision on our behalf if he needs to," Holt said.
Holt acknowledged that regime change has a dark past, but he believes that under Trump, this time will be different.
"That's not what we're doing here," Holt said. "We're saying, 'you've got a criminal. We want them. Go ahead and pick your new leader. The thug you've got right now is an interim.'"
"'Play ball with us, or it's not going to go well because there is a second wave, and we insist that our hemisphere is secure,'" Holt added.
"This is a very different approach than what we've seen before," he said.
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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