If somebody breaks into my house, fucks my shit up and leaves, are they not guilty of home invasion anymore because they didn't stick around for long enough?
Is Stuxnet not a virus because it isn't genetic material inside a protein capsule? It's almost as if words have different definitions depending on the context.
When you are referring to a military action, invasion has a particular meaning.
The definition on Wikipedia seems reasonable:
> An invasion is a military action consisting of a large armed force of one geopolitical entity entering the territory of another with the goal of militarily occupying part or all of the invaded polity's territory, usually to conquer territory or alter the established government
What the US did wasn't a military invasion by that definition as they left after they grabbed Maduro.
I agree that most people would use the term invasion to describe it. But this story is related to how a betting market decided to pay out.
The US forces left immediately after the target (Maduro and his wife) were extracted. So according to the definition I gave (which is more precise) then it isn't an invasion.
Whenever I envision an military invasion, I think of troops storming Normandy Beaches to invade Europe, When the Falklands invaded Argentina or When Hitler invaded France. All of these actions were with the intent to hold seize and hold territory.
An operation where people fly in, knocking out critical defences, capture someone and then leave clearly isn't the same thing.
Arguing over whether a different situation qualifies as a different sort of invasion doesn't move the conversation forward as much as you might intuit.