With apologies to William Shakespeare
The Trump regime and state media is saying that our “intervention” in Venezuela is not a war it is a legal/policing thing.
The Vietnam War wasn’t a war while it was going on. It wasn’t even a war for a decade or more afterward.
The Vietnam War was a Police Action.
police action
: a localized military action undertaken without formal declaration of war by regular armed forces against persons held to be violators of international peace and order -Merriam Webster
More, expanded, points of difference
War (International Armed Conflict)
- Declaration: Traditionally involves a formal declaration, though not always in modern practice.
- Legal Framework: Governed by IHL, including the Geneva Conventions, applying broadly to all parties.
- Scope: Often total war or large-scale, prolonged conflicts.
- Authority: Can stem from self-defense (UN Charter Art. 51) or Security Council authorization.
Police Action (Limited Military Operation/Intervention)
- Declaration: No formal declaration of war.
- Legal Framework: Often framed as enforcing international law/norms, using UN Charter (e.g., Korean War) or specific mandates, aiming for limited application of IHL.
- Scope: Limited in objective and scale, intended to address violations or imminent threats, not regime change.
- Authority: Can be under the UN (collective security) or self-defense, but presented as distinct from "war".
Key Legal Differences & Challenges
- Intensity & Organization: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) looks at intensity, organization, and regularity of clashes, blurring lines (e.g., terrorism vs. rebellion).
- Domestic Law: U.S. law (like the Posse Comitatus Act) generally forbids using federal troops for domestic policing, reinforcing the distinction.
- Blurred Lines: Modern conflicts (like counter-terrorism) often use "police action" language (e.g., "kinetic military action") to avoid "war" connotations, but apply significant force, creating legal ambiguity about which rules (law enforcement vs. IHL) apply.
all Google — bibliographic links below
Our actions in Vietnam was not a war, no, no, no, it was a “police action,” until it wasn’t.
It’s official designation from police action to war didn’t come until years afterward. There were many reasons for this. The one I heard the most when I was active in the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Axillary* was that with the designation of “police action,” Vietnam veterans could not join the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), because it wasn’t considered a war.
At the time the VFW looked like a dying instruction, unless the designation changed.
The truth is it was always a war.
Trump has stated that this, like the Iraq War is, among other things, for regime change. That knocks out a major point for our intervention in Venezuela being a “police action.”
What about Iran? Our bombing in Iran could be seen as performative as they were given enough time and warnings to move anything vital to their nuclear program.
Trump has also demonstrated with his attacks on fishing boats near the coast of Venezuela, that this country is not an imminent threat to us.
Caracas is a straight line distance of 2,587 miles to Brownsville, Texas.
Caracas is a straight line distance of about 1,900 miles to New Orleans.
Caracas is a straight line distance of about 1,300 miles to Miami.
I have driven from Boston, MA to Denver, CO a few times. Using interstates they are about 2,000 miles distant from each other. At 65mph (in some states you pass through the speed limit is 75mph — but I’m going to stick with 65 mph for this diary) it’s about 30 hours, non stop.
65 mph equals 57 NM/h which in layman’s terms is kinda like “knots per hour”.
Specialized, high-performance (sport) fishing boats can go 50 NM/h and can reach a top speed of 58 NM/h . . . but that’s still over a day away from our most southern city in the contiguous United States.
It’s also 20 hours away from Miami at 57 NM/h on a high performance speed fishing boat. The fastest boat/yacht/ship can get to speeds a little over 70 NM/h.
There is no imminent threat to the US from Venezuela that we can’t counter long before it reaches these shores. Trump has actually demonstrated that by his extralegal bombing of fishing boats.
Trump wants Venezuela to be a colony of the US. His regime is even referring to the sovereign nation not as a country, but as a territory. And he has already voiced what will happen in Venezuela, as happens in all colonies, a rape of resources.
The maladministration, and it’s head mushroom pecker can use all the flowery words it wants. The US has committed acts of war against another country.
Remember he renamed the Department of Defense, a title of peace, to the Department of War, an aggressive title. He wants one badly.
He’s not just wagging the tail of the dog. He’s picked the dog up and is shaking it violently.
It’s war.
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*My ex-husband was a Vietnam Veteran. Reagan cut his veterans’ disability from over 50% to 15%. With the help of Senator Gary Hart’s office we got it back up to 30%. (It was still not where it should have been.)
We belonged to the DAV and the American Legion. We could not join the VFW because the designation had not changed and veterans groups for Vietnam vets was still in its infancy.
Allen, Jonathan. “‘kinetic Military Action’ or ‘War’? - Politico.Com.” Politico. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51893_Page2.html.
De Baets, Antoon. “Police Action or War?” Verfassungsblog, January 26, 2022. https://verfassungsblog.de/police-action-or-war/.
“Declare War Clause.” National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-i/clauses/753.
Ingber, Rebecca. “The Insidious War Powers Status Quo.” Yale Law Journal, March 8, 2024. https://yalelawjournal.org/essay/the-insidious-war-powers-status-quo.
“Merging the Law of War with Criminal Law: France and the United States.” Monthly Review, September 8, 2025. https://monthlyreview.org/articles/merging-the-law-of-war-with-criminal-law/.
“R/Explainlikeimfive on Reddit: Eli5: What Is the Difference between Declaring War, and a Conflict, Peacekeeping Mission, Policing Action, Etc.? What Do You Gain/Lose by Not Declaring It an Official War?” Reddit. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/8l5y7l/eli5_what_is_the_difference_between_declaring_war/.
