Trump Was Right. Six Months Post-Maduro, Venezuelan Recovery Defies Critics

When President Donald Trump ordered an early morning raid to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and brought him to the United States to face trial on narco-terrorism charges, the warnings came fast. House Armed Services Committee ranking Democratic member Adam Smith cautioned that United States military intervention always "ends badly," citing Iraq and Libya as examples.

Representative Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, drew the parallel directly. "This is exactly the euphoria we felt in 2002 when our military took down the Taliban in Afghanistan," Himes said, "in 2003 when our military took out Saddam Hussein, and in 2011 when we helped remove Muammar Qaddafi from power in Libya."...