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Tuesday, April 26, 2022

The Expanding Theater for Iran's Oil War

Countries are regaining a little seriousness about countering Iran's threat to oil flows from the Persian Gulf.


 "Threats" means Iran

The multinational Combined Maritime Forces in the Middle East will stand up a new Combined Task Force-153 to specifically address maritime threats in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Iran is following the oil to the Red Sea as oil producers work to reduce reliance on access through the Strait of Hormuz

By standing up CTF-153 I guess the Biden administration is belatedly trying to regain some trust with our Arab Gulf allies thrown away more than a year ago:

When Biden was vice president, the administration ideal was "leading from behind" where allies fought wars that benefited America. The Saudis did that and now Biden will punish them for fighting the Iran-backed Houthi in Yemen. 

Lack of American support and ammunition will make Saudi air strikes less accurate and more likely to cause unintentional civilian casualties. Which helps the Houthis. Which makes Iran's nutball mullahs smile and bask in the knowledge that they always new Allah would rescue them from the Great Satan. 

The administration justification is that "This war has to end." Sure. But it would be nice if America didn't help our enemies end the war with a victory. Gosh, I sure missed "Smart Diplomacy!"

This new naval effort to block Iran will be futile, however, if Biden plants a big wet kiss on the Iranian mullahs' behinds by giving them a new nuclear deal

NOTE: War updates continue at this post.