The South has a lot at stake in what happens next in Venezuela

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Whenever the United States military moves, the South pays attention.

Of the 10 states with the most active duty military personnel, six are in the South—Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia.

Right now, the region should be watching closely after a series of American military strikes in Venezuela. The attacks killed about 75 people in the South American country, the US says, and included the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

There's an arc to the flow of information whenever the American military acts. Initially, the media is dependent on the word of US leaders. That's where we are right now.

President Trump's administration and his Republican allies have contradicted themselves several times in the hours since they announced the attacks Saturday.

On Wednesday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson described the military assault as a one-off maneuver. Johnson said he doesn't anticipate "boots on the ground," which is how national security officials are describing things. But President Trump has insisted that the US will "run" Venezuela and that he might send more troops to the country.

Americans, troubled by rising prices, aren't much interested in prolonged military engagements. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are fresh in many people's minds.

But Trump's secretary of state, Marco Rubio, also seemed to lay out a prolonged plan for military involvement in Venezuela during a classified briefing with senators, including the possibility of a greater American military presence there.

Venezuela's new leader has rejected the American incursion. Trump's already threatened her over it.

In other words, what happens next is as clear as mud.