Operation Absolute Resolve demonstrated again that the worst mistake a world leader can make is to underestimate Donald Trump. Immured in his Brooklyn cell, Nicolás Maduro will have ample time to reflect on how much better his life would have been had he taken Washington’s warnings seriously and slipped into a luxurious exile. In Cuba, Nicaragua and beyond, other leaders will ask themselves whether the time has come for a graceful retirement.
Globally, the usual suspects were quick to chime in with the usual critiques. Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and their increasingly nervous allies deployed every cliché in their arsenals against the American operation. The dwindling band of bitter clingers to the dream that the magical force known as “international law” will bend the arc of history toward justice were predictably outraged.