US Seizes Oil Tanker Off the Coast of Venezuela

[AverageOldGuy]

25. Maye we should not be so quick to hop on this story

While it's easy to attack Trump as a pirate for this seizure, it appears the whole story is a lot more complicated.

Google information about the ship and this incident where you will find the story is long and twisted.

It seems as though this same vessel has been for years involved in some kind of international trafficking in crude oil that was designed to avoid sanctions on Iran and Russia, a scheme that went on for years and is still going on.

It also now appears that the ship was broadcasting on ship warning radio channels one location when, in fact, it was located 100 miles away, travelling in a direction different from that being broadcast, clearly in an attempt to avoid detection.

Which raises the question of just how deeply is the Venezuelan government involved in what appears to be international petroleum smuggling and how long have they been doing it and to whose benefit?

I hate Trump as much as most and more than a lot but it appears in this incident there is a background to the story that we need to acknowledge.