About a minute into his remarks Saturday on the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, US President Donald Trump likened the operation to the American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of last June’s 12-day Israel-Iran war.

With that comparison, Trump was giving his answer to a question that has burned in the minds of Americans, Israelis and beyond as the smoke cleared over Caracas: Which part of history, if any, is repeating itself?

Will Venezuela be another Iraq — a long, bloody, and costly American misadventure in an oil-rich nation, as Trump’s critics fear? Another Libya, in which the US helped depose a dictator but failed to bring stability?

Or will it, as Trump’s comparison to Iran suggests, be a short, contained military operation with a clear goal that doesn’t ensnare US troops in an open-ended and undefined foreign entanglement?

A key question that has remained unclear amid unfolding events has been what exactly Trump means when he says the US will now “run” Venezuela.

Despite the Iran comparison, the US president has mused about “boots on the ground,” though for now he appears focused on tapping Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. On Wednesday, Trump suggested US oversight of Venezuela could last years.

His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has suggested a less intensive intervention, relying on cooperative remnants of the Maduro regime. And his press secretary said Venezuelan authorities’ “decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the........

© The Times of Israel