Ricardo Hausmann and Jose Morales-Arilla fall back on the bankrupt credibility argument to urge Trump to attack:
If, at this point, the United States flinches — if it allows Mr. Maduro to declare a victory in an election that independent analysts say was stolen, ride out sanctions and wait out a carrier strike group — the precedent will be read carefully in Moscow, Tehran, Beijing and beyond. Strategic defeat is not just losing a war. It is yet more proof that U.S. red lines are written in disappearing ink.
There are all kinds of bad arguments for a regime change intervention in Venezuela, but worrying about the precedent set by not illegally attacking another country has to be one of the worst. If the U.S. changed course, withdrew its naval forces, and stopped menacing Venezuela with increasingly aggressive actions, that would be a tremendous victory for common sense and international law. Backing down from a stupid manufactured crisis might be a bit embarrassing for the president, but it would be far better than committing criminal aggression against one of our neighbors.