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This Week:

• Expert Analysis of the Capture of Maduro
• US Withdraws from International Organizations
• RJC in the News
• Short Takes
• Week's Best Tweets

Expert Analysis of the Capture of Maduro

The US conducted a successful operation over the weekend to arrest and remove Nicolas Maduro and his wife to the US to face federal charges including: narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machineguns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices against the United States.

Peter Laffin, writing at the Washington Examiner, reminds us of who Maduro is:

Despite telling a New York judge that he is a "decent man," Maduro is a full-fledged monster, even for an authoritarian despot. He ordered beatings and killings of political opponents and tortured protesters. His corrupt mismanagement of the Venezuelan economy sparked hyperinflation, food shortages, and mass migration from the country. His ties to drug cartels turned Venezuela into a dangerous narco-state that flooded America's streets with drugs, empowering some of the most evil and vicious organizations the world over. And in 2024, he rigged the national election to retain power, with evidence revealing that he lost in a landslide. Maduro is an evil man to his core. He belongs in prison. It is good he is there.

J. Michael Waller, an expert in national security, intelligence, and counterintelligence, explains the top reasons why the Venezuela operation benefits American citizens. They are:

1. It took out the head of a major international organized crime cartel.

2. It took out the leader who flooded the United States with hardened criminals, organized terrorist gangs like Tren de Aragua, and millions of refugees.

3. It took out the leader of an international terrorist organization.

4. It took out the sponsor of Hezbollah and other jihadists on our southern maritime border.

5. It took out the sponsor of Iranian surveillance and kamikaze drones on our southern maritime border.

6. It took out a major supply of cash to the Iranian force responsible for killing hundreds of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan.

7. It deprived Communist China of plans to deploy its navy around Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and the Panama Canal.

8. It restored and modernized our 200 year-old Monroe Doctrine.

9. The operation was not a war.

Jewish Policy Center Senior Director Shoshana Bryen writes:

We are accustomed to staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at Israeli military prowess. But respect and honor also to the United States military and its amazing personnel.

… In Venezuela, more than 150 aircraft, including fighter aircraft, bombers, surveillance aircraft, intelligence aircraft, and helicopters, flew from 20 different bases. The mission included Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Space Force, as well as the CIA, NGA, and NSA. "We watched, we prepared, we remained patient and professional," [Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] told the assembled press at President Donald Trump's news conference Saturday.

US intelligence knew Maduro's pattern of life – where he moved, lived, traveled, ate, and worked. The military made plans accordingly. Caine said the mission was "meticulously planned" and was "the culmination of months of planning and rehearsals."

… Military operations to secure our country do not require a "declaration of war" by Congress. They do, however, require a ready, precise, and well-led military to achieve their goals. The United States has such a force. It is a blessing.

US Withdraws from International Organizations

This week, President Donald Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the withdrawal of the United States from 66 international organizations "that no longer serve American interests." This follows a review of all international intergovernmental organizations, conventions, and treaties that the United States is a member of or party to, or that the United States funds or supports.

A full list of the organizations is here.

Constitutional and international law expert Eugene Kontorovich commented on X:

Important action by the Trump Administration in beginning to dismantle the opaque web of globalist institutions - including numerous organizations whose exit I have called for over the years.

Some of these are minor niche orgs that do no harm, but cannot be justified from the point of taxpayer expense. Others… seek to manufacture… international "soft law" that overwhelmingly aligns with progressive values. UNWomen [U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women] neglected mass rape by Hamas but remembered Amal Clooney's birthday.

The biggest item was @UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change], because it was joined via a Senate ratified treaty, making reentry by a subsequent president almost impossible. UNFCCC violated federal law by admitting the PA as a "state," and will now reap the consequences.

RJC in the News

JNS: Amid Minnesota fraud scandal, Walz decision to drop out shakes up midterms

Sam Markstein, spokesman for the Republican Jewish Coalition, told JNS that [Governor Tim] Walz's withdrawal was a "hilariously pathetic political crashout."

"It started when he was totally embarrassed by Vice President [JD] Vance in last year's VP debate, continued when he lost his home county in Minnesota to Donald Trump and crescendoed with his decision to drop out of the race for governor this week after bombshell fraud allegations," Markstein said.

"Tim Walz will be remembered as an incapable, feckless and bozo governor," he added.

Short Takes

JNS: Dick Zimmer, former NJ congressman and author of Megan's Law, dies at 81

Richard Alan ("Dick") Zimmer, a former three-term Republican member of the US House of Representatives for the state of New Jersey who twice ran unsuccessfully for the Senate, died on Dec. 31. He was 81 years old.

Zimmer, who was Jewish, served in the House from 1991 to 1997, giving up his seat to challenge Robert Torricelli, then a Democratic House member, for the Senate to succeed retiring Bill Bradley. He ran again for the House in 2000 and the Senate in 2008.

JNS: Doug LaMalfa, Republican congressman from California, dies at 65

Doug LaMalfa, the six-term congressman from California's 1st Congressional District, died on Jan. 6 at age 65.

First elected in 2012, LaMalfa was a fourth-generation rice farmer who represented the northern part of the state, chaired the Congressional Western Caucus, and was a member of the Agriculture, Natural Resources and Transportation Committees.

… "We send our deepest condolences and join in praying for the LaMalfa family during this incredibly difficult time," the Republican Jewish Coalition stated. "May Congressman Doug LaMalfa's memory be a blessing forever."

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