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| US President Donald Trump |
By Thomas WATKINS
After days of fiery talk of possible military intervention in the North Korea nuclear stand-off, Pentagon officials late last week suddenly found themselves digesting a surprising piece of breaking news.
President Donald Trump, in the middle of a working vacation, stood before cameras and said the United States was also mulling options against crisis-hit Venezuela, "including a possible military option if necessary."
The announcement, seemingly out of left-field, sent Pentagon staff scrambling.
They eventually noted that the military plans for any number of situations, and that its Southern Command had not received any Venezuela orders.
The surreal situation was just the latest step along an increasingly well-trodden path, where the military finds itself caught off-guard by its commander-in-chief.
Such was the case again this week, after Trump said left-wing counter-protesters were partly responsible for deadly violence at a white supremacist rally in Virginia and claimed there were "very fine people on both sides."
While not addressing his comments directly, top military leaders issued statements denouncing racism and intolerance.
The move was seen as a radical departure for the Pentagon, which considers itself impartial and ordinarily steers clear of the political arena.
Read the full story at SpaceDaily