As Trump justifies an illegal invasion of Venezuela under a guise of fighting fentanyl, it is a distraction.

Our opioid epidemic was actually caused by aggressive pharmaceutical marketing, a Congressional failure to regulate this industry, and ongoing American poverty. An inside job. Coast Guard seizure data do not show any fentanyl coming from Venezuelan-linked maritime routes. 

The USA is under no threat from Venezuela.

To the contrary, the USA conducted a covert war against Venezuela for decades to attempt to control their oil. And they resisted. I say this not from ignorance. I once held a top-secret clearance and well understand the motives of US national security — to defend corporate interests.  

Some among us view another nation’s labor, land and resources as ours, robbing from the poor to give to the rich. I left being a ‘desk killer’ for that very reason. Unfortunately, wealth inequality data backs up this claim.

Venezuela and Iraq, for that matter, will sell us their oil, but they demand a portion of the profits to alleviate poverty at home. Some of America's conservatives and corporate democrats can’t tolerate that idea. We’d rather kill than pay a fair price. 

How can the USA accuse others of human rights abuses while we maintain one of the highest per-capita prison population on earth, mostly people of color and the poor? Corporate prisons are run by a similar bunch as the world’s war profiteers, who are in the business of misery. U.S. military sales accounted for 43% of total global arms exports. We are the leader in prisons and weapons of mass destruction, while our multidimensional poverty rate of 13 percent is a global embarrassment.

Imagine being huddled with your children waiting for the bombs, then glass, blood, deafening thunder, cries and death.

This isn’t Avatar, people, this is America, now driving a new global arms race, as war criminals like Trump, Putin and Netanyahu show the world that they don’t care. The scary thing is that no one will stop us. There is a media and internet machine that will sell the necessity of war. This, alongside a mildly educated populace, makes the probability of bending the arc towards justice in 2026 seem impossible. But I’m a father and a world spinning into more violence and cruelty is unthinkable, and compels my action and resistance.

Could 2026 be the year the USA is forced to end colonialism, poverty, racism, homophobia and the abuse of women?  

Could “America First” shift to seeing other’s needs as more important than our own — being our sister’s and brother’s keeper?

As unlikely it is, I still believe humanity has the capacity to be extraordinarily kind and altruistic — kindness breeds kindness, violence breeds violence.

Jim Merkel is a former military engineer who lives in Belfast