The Preamble

The Preamble

A Casino for Military Intelligence

When insiders bet on classified operations, adversaries are watching

Elise Labott's avatar
Elise Labott
Apr 29, 2026
∙ Paid

In the early hours of January 3, US special operations forces moved into Venezuela on a mission that depended entirely on secrecy. The objective was to capture the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro. Details of the operation were so closely held that even senior officials learned about the timing only a few hours before it was underway.

At roughly the same…

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Elise Labott
Global affairs journalist. I write Cosmopolitics on Substack.
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