We don't need the oil - Japan, China, and the EU need the oil. . .
Japan, China & the EU need to nut-up and crawl in bed with the Arabs and solve THEIR supply problem. . .
We don't need the oil - Japan, China, and the EU need the oil. . .
Japan, China & the EU need to nut-up and crawl in bed with the Arabs and solve THEIR supply problem. . .
"There are two ways to do most anything- right and again."
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
I think they do. A few years ago I had a relative that spent 18 months in Afghanistan working for a private company. He said he was doing "economic development" but I found that a bit strange as he was an intel analyst in the Army for many years. I looked at the military base where he lived (google earth) and there were drones on the airfield. He made about 200K a year there doing "economic development'' all expenses paid.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
Sometimes a non-written implicit agreement carries as much force as a defense treaty...
The Saudis waste zillions buying arms (mostly fron the US) to bully the minions around them, but when push comes to shove they relly on the good 'ol USA for protection.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/w...gtype=Homepage
"The oil-rich monarchies of the Persian Gulf have relied for decades on the promise of protection by the United States military, a commitment sealed by the rollback of the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and reinforced by a half dozen American military bases that sprang up around the region.
Now that commitment is facing its most serious test since the first gulf war: an attack last Saturday by a swarm of at least 17 missiles and drones that crippled Saudi Arabia’s most critical oil installation and temporarily knocked out 5 percent of the world’s oil supply.
Washington and Riyadh blamed Iran, despite its denials, and President Trump threatened that the United States was “locked and loaded.” Yet despite months of such bravado, Mr. Trump has been hesitant to take military action that might risk an expanded conflagration. For better or worse, such a muted response could signal another turning point for the region.
“It is enormous,” said Gregory Gause, a scholar of the region at Texas A&M University. “This is the most serious challenge since the invasion of Kuwait to the status of the United States as a great power that would protect the free flow of energy from the region, and unless there is a big change in the response from the Trump administration I think Gulf leaders will start to question the value of that security commitment.”
Trump’s a consummate salesman. He knows a fresh war will yield better political return in 2020 then it will in late 2019.
The Minority Marksman.
"When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not recite poetry to one who is not a poet."
-a Ch'an Buddhist axiom.
Pretty much sums up how I feel about the whole thing..I’m 65, and I remember the oil embargo that OPEC put on the U.S. in the 70’s..and how the price of gas would jump every time some Arab would fart. Well, the tables have turned, and we really don’t need them, I’m all for pulling our troops out of the entire region, and let the chips fall where they may.. Let them settle their problems...
There's another side to that also. When the economy starts to falter in 2020, which it will, a new war in the gulf will be just the ticket to take everyone's mind off of how bad the economy has become and breathe some life into some companies with military contracts.
I'm not expecting any of these attacks on the Saudis to cease. Iran has found their achilles heel. The Iranians are laughing their asses off over the freak out in the US media over oil prices. Brought to you by the Russians, supplying Russian missiles and Russian techs.
It's a whole new ballgame.
Last edited by Borderland; 09-20-2019 at 10:03 AM.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.