World Insights: Confusion reigns in US after attack on Venezuela

On Saturday, U.S. forces attacked the oil-rich South American nation and captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who made his first court appearance and pleaded not guilty Monday morning in New York.

Speculation is rife in the United States, with some Americans viewing the move as a bid to tap Venezuela's vast oil reserves and others believing U.S. President Donald Trump has a personal dislike for Maduro.

Most, however, are simply confused.

Indeed, U.S. domestic sentiment is marked by a lack of clarity on key points, including U.S. goals and legal justification.

While Trump stated that the United States will "run" the South American nation, Americans believe the White House has been vague and has not clearly defined the goals of the operation.

There is confusion over who currently governs Venezuela. While Vice President Delcy Rodriguez is the legal successor and became acting president, ordered by the country's Supreme Court of Justice, Trump said on Saturday that the United States will govern that nation until the dust settles. However, any exit strategy remains unclear.

The operation's legal basis is also in question.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has blasted the move, and many lawmakers argued the attack was not authorized by Congress under the War Powers Act.

Polling also points to a sharp contrast between the attack and public opinion.

According to a CBS poll published in November, 76 percent of Americans believe that the administration has not clearly explained the U.S. position on military action in Venezuela.

Mark Beamer, 42, a business consultant outside Washington, D.C., said he does not understand what is happening in Venezuela.

"I'm not sure I get what's going on," he told Xinhua.

Joe Chambers, 55, a retired security guard in Philadelphia, told Xinhua: "We don't really know. It just seems odd. But you know, we always stick our nose in stuff."

Marina Rollings, 45, a business analyst outside Washington, D.C., told Xinhua: "Can the U.S. do that? Can they just capture someone's president? This is very confusing."

Indeed, even many of Trump's supporters are confused, as Trump campaigned against what he called "forever wars" -- U.S. conflicts that have no exit strategy, no clear goals and no clear relationship to U.S. national security.

Beamer, the business consultant, said, "This is a waste of taxpayer dollars."

Analysts have expressed concern about the U.S. military action.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon told Xinhua: "Trump is taking a big gamble that he can avoid a very messy situation here. The odds of success aren't that great, it seems to me."

Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua that Trump "believes that Venezuela's oil industry was originally a U.S. industry, and that he is restoring that. He intends to pressure U.S. oil companies into changing their investment plans, so that they re-enter Venezuela massively and rebuild its oil infrastructure, without U.S. government help."

Trump said that he expects the United States to sell Venezuela's oil assets and that the funds will go to both the United States and Venezuela.

"We're going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground, and that wealth is going to the people of Venezuela, and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Venezuela, and it goes also to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country," Trump said.

Americans have yet to digest these statements, as the military action has come quickly and the public seems dumbfounded at the moment.