I am sure that our Clueless Leader will somehow try to spin the latest news out of the Middle East as some sort of win for his lunatic strategies….
Looks like Iran and its proxies now control the east side and the west of the Strait of Hormuz….not a promising picture.
Recently in Yemen the Houthis attacked and won a vital port on the Strait of Hormuz….now Iran and its clients are controlling a lot of the traffic that will supposedly travel through the Strait…
A conflict that once looked containable is now spilling across borders in ways that damaging to both President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, writes Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times. Iran’s allies, particularly Yemen’s Houthi militia, have opened a new front by seizing much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and striking Saudi energy infrastructure, including the kingdom’s key East-West pipeline. Those attacks threaten the backup routes meant to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, raising the risk of sharper disruptions to global oil supplies just as Western countries head into winter.
“The US-Iran war can be seen as a three-dimensional conflict,” writes Rachman. “The first dimension is the battlefield. The second is the economic conflict. The third is the battle of narratives. All three are linked and currently turning against the US.” Iran has shown it can withstand initial strikes, hit US partners, and choke energy routes, while its authoritarian system insulates leaders from public anger in a way Trump cannot match if gasoline prices climb. Meanwhile, Trump reportedly rebuffed MBS’ push for rapid strikes on the Houthis, a sign Washington grasps the limits of force against battle-hardened local actors.
A Washington Post analysis by Gerry Shih and Sammy Westfall similarly argues that the Houthis’ rapid takeover of the Bab al-Mandab Strait late last week might be Iran’s biggest victory of the conflict so far. Friday was “the first day that Iran really started winning the war,” one Yemeni official tells the newspaper. The sentiment is echoed by Dennis Citrinowicz of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv: “This is a major, almost unprecedented, strategic achievement for Iran and the Houthis.”
This will effect the Saudis mostly….and as of this writing their oil traffic is all but stopped. What does this mean….probably very little for they have been bombing the crap out of Yemen for years and yet it has been ineffective.
I wonder if Israel will want a piece of this action?
Of course they will.
And since they will be given a fresh batch of American bombs it seems inevitable.
Just so you know….
The Trump administration is planning to move forward with a massive military aid package for Israel that will include 40,000 2,000-pound bombs, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, as the US continues to support Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza and its wars and occupations in the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria.
The report said the sale, paid for with US taxpayer dollars, will include 20,000 MK-84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, each weighing 2,000 pounds. It will be funded by the State Department’s Foreign Military Finance program, under which the US provides foreign governments money to purchase US weapons.
(antiwar.com)
If our stockpiles are so low where will we get these ‘extra’ bombs?
Fresh supply of destruction on its way….Israel thumps its chest and pleases Donny’s bloodlust.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered “Israel’s services” to countries in the Arabian Peninsula and has expressed a willingness to participate in a “comprehensive war” against Ansar Allah, the Houthi movement in Yemen, Lebanese media have reported.
The report, by Al-Akhbar editor Ibrahim al-Amin, said that Netanyahu was pressing Israel’s security establishment and military to prepare for possible action against Iran and Hezbollah.
The proposed Israeli role was part of a “wider regional effort” to counter the Houthis and the threat to shipping through the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb, one of the world’s main maritime corridors, Israeli media said.
But there is a caveat…. Israel was unlikely to rush into an active military role because of concern that the Houthis could resume missile and drone attacks against Israel.
That thought will demand the US take a larger roll in Yemen….just what this country needs an expansion of our deadly interventions.
Anything missing?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
I read yesterday that the attack on the Saudi pipeline will badly affect oil supplies on top of the current Hormuz disruption. We should all be bracing ourselves for another massive oil price hike soon, just in time for winter. The balance of power across the region is changing fast, with the west and its UAE/Saudi allies no longer dominant.
Best wishes, Pete.
They are reporting today that pump prices will be staggering. chuq
All I can say to any of this is I’m glad I only drive minimally, eat small portions, and have a small amount set aside for all the various price increases. I truly feel sorry for working parents who are raising kids. What a F-ing disaster this nation has become under you all know who.
Nan I seem to be on target with you….but as the days go by that reserve gets smaller…..chuq
Gasoline prices here in Wisconsin went up 25¢ just overnight. We’re up to $4.45 for regular 10% ethanol, $5.75 for non-ethanol real gas that I need to run in the lawnmower and generators, and $6.28 for diesel. I know the family that owns the local gas station here in town pretty well and I was talking to him just this morning and he said the way things are going now they’re probably looking at a retail price of close to $5/gallon before the end of the month if not sooner if something doesn’t change. And they’re only making about 2¢ per gallon over their cost.
Our weekly grocery bill here for me and my wife went from an average of about $100/week two years ago to now around $160/week. We can afford it but we know a lot of people, especially retired people trying to live on social security and a small pension, who are right on the brink.
We are a bit lucky down here our gas as of yesterday was $3.88 for regular…..I live alone and without my garden my bill is about $150 a week….and it keeps getting worse. chuq
Everything he touches dies…his “Vietnam” will haunt him for the rest of his life
The sad part, John, is that it isn’t going to haunt him at all. He literally doesn’t give a damn about himself. We’re the ones who are going to be haunted by this for decades to come long after he’s gone.
That should have said “he literally doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself.”
You are absolutely right and very well stated as well
John will he remember it in a year or so? chuq
And even worse, if he did he just doesn’t care.
this is not going to end well for us. Costco and other retailers have already increased the prices of engine oil drastically, in some cases by 50% or more, and some retailers are actually rationing sales. Diesel fuel hit $6.20/gallon here. More than double what it was when Trump first took office. Out on the west coast it’s hit $10/gallon. Our entire food supply is driven by diesel fuel. It runs the tractors, the trucks. the railroads, the ships, etc. that run our entire food supply.
Here’s an interesting number for you: $5.5 billion. that’s what Trump’s little temper tantrums have cost just the state of Wisconsin alone over the last two years. Five and a half billion dollars. Just this state.
And that’s just the economic cost.
Crap! Not sure what it is costing Mississippi but I bet it is a bunch….reports today are preparing us for staggering prices coming to a pump near you. chuq
This is a momentous political setback for Trump and U.S. standing in the world; and, as Pete and GF pointed out, it will deliver a devastating blow to the global economy. If we think consumer prices and employment opportunities are bad now, just wait for 2027! From the behind-the-scenes information I’ve been reading lately, a global recession – at best – is almost assured for next year.
The Houthis destroyed key pumping stations along Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline which require about 2 years to repair compared to about 2 weeks for damage to the pipeline itself. This pipeline, which transports oil from the Persian Gulf coast to the Red Sea, was built specifically to minimize the threat from Iran. Now, with oil flow through the Persian Gulf and Red Sea shutdown to a trickle, reduced Russian oil & gas exports damaged from its war against Ukraine, and China resuming its oil imports, the world’s oil supply is facing severe shortages which are already driving up energy prices.
As the geopolitical situation continues to deteriorate, pressures will mount on governments to take increasingly extreme actions. This is how world wars start, and the megalomaniacal madman Trump is sitting on thousands of nuclear weapons…
Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies
Farewell and adieu to you ladies of Spain
Cause we’ve received orders to sail for old England,
But we hope in a short time to see you again.
Donny is not alone….we have the Saudis, Israel, as antagonists….this could well blow up into a major conflict and many of the players have nukes….I see Pakistan has said they would help the Saudis with their Yemen problem…..another player with a nuke….just keeps getting worse…..chuqchuq
this is what scares me, chuq. That whole area has been a powder keg for decades, if not for centuries. It’s full of groups of religious zealots, ethnic groups, groups who feel they’ve been wronged in one way or another, or just the greedy and power hungry, who have just been waiting for some kind of chaotic event they could take advantage of to try to advance their own cause. And Trump and Netanyahu gave it to them the moment they launched an unprovoked attack against Iran. And I agree that this new Mecca Joint Defense agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan is highly concerning. We now have the possibility of both Turkey and Pakistan being dragged into this as well. And Pakistan, of course, has nuclear weapons, as does Israel. This could turn very, very bad very, very fast.
I see now the Donny is thumping his chest but not knowing what to do….whatever it is will probably be wrong. chuq