Politics

Last year, I thought 2025 would be the year of psychological operations. It’s not a risky prediction to make since false flags and propaganda infiltrate everything these days, from Wikipedia to film and cinema. Still, it was a year filled with economic hardships for most Americans, combined with questionable narratives surrounding political assassinations. Now that we’ve entered 2026, the year has already started off with military operations and uprisings. We will undoubtedly be in for a year filled with more economic hardships, but now with a side order of armed conflicts and war propaganda reminiscent of George W. Bush-era neoconservatism.

Venezuela and the New Era of Regime Change

In 2003, George W. Bush took America to war in Iraq over contrived narratives about “weapons of mass destruction.” Saddam Hussein, a man previously photographed shaking hands with Donald Rumsfeld in 1983, turned from an American ally to an enemy. The resulting attack and “Mission Accomplished” banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln led to years of civil unrest¹, and the dissolving of every Iraqi institution in a disastrously executed reconstruction effort².

I previously made the argument that Donald Trump would be the better option for leading America away from war, and it turns out that prediction was entirely wrong. On January 3rd, on the breaking of a brand new year, Trump announced the U.S. had carried out large scale strikes against Venezuela and captured their leader, Nicolas Maduro³. People in Caracas posted videos of explosions in the capitol⁴. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated Maduro and his wife had been indicted for charges of “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns [sic]” and a list of other charges⁵.

The extraction of Maduro was a grandiose narrative surrounded by a fog of war-style operation, similar to when Obama allegedly had a team assassinate Osama bin Laden and dump his body in the ocean. Immediately after Obama’s operation in 2011, a witness interviewed by Al Jazeera, who frequently walked by the house Bin Laden allegedly was hiding in, said he didn’t believe Bin Laden ever lived there⁶. French intelligence agencies suspected Bin Laden was already dead in 2006⁷. An Obama-appointed judge refused to release the photos of Bin Laden’s death⁸, and my own personal group of Australian friends believed the entire operation had been faked, when I lived in Melbourne in 2012.

We’re told the military employed more than 150 aircraft, including bombers, helicopters and drones, in the operation to capture Maduro⁹. Mainstream news sources released photos of Maduro in a funny hat, surrounded by DEA agents, giving two thumbs up¹⁰. Immediately people questioned if such photos were real or fake, and Snopes claimed they couldn’t independently verify the authenticity of one such photograph¹¹. Some have questioned why Venezuela’s military didn’t fight back, as their military did possess air defenses such as the S-300 and portable MANPADS¹².

If the smiling expressions and thumbs-ups photos are in fact real, it might be the case that Maduro made some kind of deal with the U.S. government to put on a dramatic military stage show with minimal casualties. Only time will tell what the true nature and purpose of this January operation was, but it is certainly not the sensational, headline-grabbing story it’s being reported to be¹³.

But What About The History?

The argument in favor of Trump’s operations in Venezuela takes us decades back to President Hugo Chavez and how he nationalized the nation’s oil fields in 2006 and 2007, arguably committing theft against international oil companies British Petroleum, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Total and Statoil, whose investments into the nation’s oil infrastructure were estimated at $17 billion¹⁴. This was in the wake of a failed coup against Chavez, and a strike of 18,000 workers, which brought oil production to a standstill¹⁵.

When Chavez nationalized the nation’s oil and fired experienced workers, the nation’s oil production plummeted. While redistribution of wealth to the nation’s poor might seem like a great idealistic virtue, in reality it can lead to a loss of industrial skill. It’s similar how, when Mugabe took farms away from white farmers and gave them to his supporters who knew nothing about farming, it plunged the nation into years of food shortages¹⁶.

Still, does that justify the Trump administration’s military intervention? Many of Trump’s supporters believed he would lead America away from an era of war in the Middle East, and yet last summer he ordered airstrikes on Iran, coordinated with Israel.

Trump has said the U.S. will run Venezuela for now, even as the Venezuelan supreme court granted Vice President Delcy Rodríguez full presidential power and the military recognized her as the country’s acting leader¹⁷. The original claims of fighting “Narco-Terrorism⁵” were quickly superseded with plans to subsidize U.S. oil firms to get Venezuelan oil production “up and running” with increased operations within 18 months¹⁸.

American oil firms are less than enthusiastic about developing Venezuelan oil again. Fracking has increased American oil and natural gas production since Chavez’s nationalized oil production 20 years ago. Rebuilding the oil industry in Venezuela could cost up to a billion dollars with uncertain payoffs¹⁹. Their oil is a heavy grade crude and requires thermal cracking and solvents for extraction and processing²⁰.

Trump’s operation was not about any type of liberation for the Venezuelan people. Although there are many Venezuelans who are celebrating the removal of Maduro²¹, does anyone think whoever becomes their next leader will honestly be any better? Will America, using their intelligence operatives, allow anyone to run as a serious candidate in Venezuelan elections who does not side with the interests of the U.S. government? This was not a story of liberation, stopping the flow of drugs, or even a story about oil. This is a story about regime change and an obvious continuation of neoconservative imperialism, grasping for the tail end of a dying American empire.

Shooting of Federal Officers

I’ve tried to avoid all coverage of the recent federal officer-involved shootings. Any commentary seems to bring out the absolute worst in all sides. I’ve personally gone through immigration processes to work in other countries and am the descendant of legal immigrants. I do not like the defense of illegal immigration, nor do I like defending any type of constable just because they’re a police officer, for incidents that are questionable and result in serious injury or death.

When it comes to the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) involved shootings, things immediately don’t seem to be adding up. In Minneapolis, the shooting of an ICE agent occurred only a few blocks from the George Floyd incident years earlier on Portland Avenue²². Meanwhile, another shooting involving Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), just happened to occur in Portland, Oregon²³. The protestors in Minneapolis, who are presumably against borders, have constructed a barricaded border²⁴, reminiscent of the autonomous zone in Seattle years ago.

ICE officers refused to let someone who claimed they were a doctor administer aid to the woman who was shot²⁵. While this seems understandable in some respects, as this was a protest that seemed to turn violent and an officer cannot simply trust anyone on the street who claims to be a doctor, it could have also been because the woman was not really shot or injured. The entire incident, broadcast immediately into the national spotlight, might have been entirely staged²⁶.

JD Vance has already stated publicly that the ICE officers have been given immunity²⁷, and local police have been denied their right to investigate the incident²⁸²⁹. Barriers were erected in Minneapolis and stayed up for three days around the area of the incident³⁰. These events only further the argument this could very well be some type of staged event or cover-up.

What’s amazing is that the conservative stance perpetuated by the outrage media is causing people to side with federal authority over local authority and in favor of federal agents without investigation or due process. The news cycle is also conditioning those on the left to side against federal officers and with the protestor, regardless of the details of the incident or if the officer’s life was threatened by a deranged individual who used a car like a weapon.

The reality is that there is a reasonable middle. If an officer tells you to get out of the car, do so and stay silent until you can speak to a lawyer. Know and assert your rights. Don’t attempt to drive off or into an officer. At the same time, any officer-involved shooting should be carefully investigated, including by local authorities even in a federal incident, to eliminate even any hint of bias or corruption. People should be held accountable for their actions.

There is significant evidence to suggest the George Floyd incident was a staged event³¹. The recent set of ICE escalations has many of the same characteristics. They are designed to psychologically condition conservatives to continue supporting federal raids, which have little to no impact on immigration. Instead, they normalize federal police in municipalities while also conditioning resentment of liberals as people with no respect for borders, legal jurisdictions or immigration law. These are events that turn both sides of the political spectrum against their own interests.

Iran

Protests have broken out in Iran, with US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency claiming more than 2,500 people have been killed so far³². How this information is getting out is questionable, as the nation has shut down the Internet, including jamming Starlink satellite transmissions, for well over a week³³. Former CIA director Mike Pompeo has already chimed in on how the collapse of the Venezuelan regime was a direct blow to the Ayatollah, claiming they rely on Venezuelan oil³⁴. This is an absolutely laughable and absurd statement, as Iran imports less than 2% of their oil³⁵.

In 1951, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh was the democratically elected president of Iran. In an effort to bring more of the nation’s wealth to his own people, he nationalized oil reserves that had been previously held by the British. Amid fears of communism, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in conjunction with the British, started Operation Ajax, which succeeded in a coup against the democratically elected president and led to the installation of the Shah, who would come to be known as a tyrannical dictator³⁶.

It’s impossible to know at this point what is really happening in Iran. Reports vary wildly about the number of people killed, and America’s intelligence agencies have a long history of operations to unseat the nation. I have serious doubts if any of the recent protests are in any way organic. The nation of Syria collapsed in December of 2024, and Iran is another nation that has been in the crosshairs of regime change rhetoric by American presidents for decades. This could simply be a continuation of the escalations from the previous summer; yet another attempt at destabilization and regime change.

The Year of War and Mirrors

The opening events of January seem to be used by the media to set the tone for the entire year. In the past, we’ve seen January as a stage for political prisoners, terrorism and assassinations. The rhetoric leading up to 2026, including how Trump restored the tiles Department of War and Secretary of War³⁷, was preparing the way for events that would be psychologically burned into the minds of all Americans at the very start of the year.

It sets the stage for 2026: a year that pushes America into a regressive policy of imperial expansionism. It’s hardly a new concept. The technocratic class is embracing computing power they could only dream about a century prior in order to advance the surveillance state and consolidate power into a small set of kingdoms.

New Year’s Day is often seen for many as a new beginning and a time to make resolute the goals one has for the coming year. It’s a period of rebirth, pushing through the decay of winter, past the solstice with hopes of longer, warmer and brighter days. That is also why it is the perfect time to induce trauma, like a baby being poked and prodded and subjected to invasive procedures in a hospital, tainting and conditioning it before entering our modern world³⁸. We are slowly being conditioned to the annual media cycle, bringing us propaganda and trauma during the cold winter months, preparing us to turn further against one another in what will surely be a year of endless wars.