There’s an old saying: “You break it, you buy it.” If you enter a store, examine its goods and accidentally break something, you own the consequences.
Let’s apply this rule to our nation’s military history.
In the 1960s, we entered Vietnam and broke it. Over more than a decade, in the face of corruption and insurgency, over 58,000 of our troops bought it.
In the 1990s and 2000s, we entered Iraq and broke it. In the resulting civil war between Shia and Sunni Muslims, thousands more of our troops – including at least one from Cortez – bought it.
In the 2000s, we entered Afghanistan and broke it. In the face of corruption and relentless Taliban resistance, many more of our troops bought it.
Early on the morning of Jan. 3, 2026, we entered Venezuela and broke it. In the face of longstanding oppressive tyranny, what happens next?
I repeat: We broke Venezuela. What happens next?
James F. Andrus
Cortez
