Do you understand why Trump has lifted the oil sanctions that were punishing Iran, the country he’s bombing, and Russia, the country that’s helping it?
Do you understand why Trump is sending 5,000 Marines to sail through the Strait of Hormuz while complaining that none of our friends and allies will help him reopen it?
Here's the whole explanation.
@gleick My apologies. I can see that the way I phrased it could be offensive.
What's a better way to preface the question “Could you please post content about your anti-fascism crusade on a platform that doesn't openly support fascism”?
RE: https://mas.to/@gleick/116273021474400955
@gregatron5 suggested preface:
"Anti-fascists might like to mute me indefinitely for hasty and repeated interjection in a context such as this."
@gleick @gregatron5 posting as someone who was going to read the article but didn't because of where it's hosted:
Snapping at someone for pointing out people's discomfort with a platform that openly defends hosting of literal Nazis is really disappointing.
Guess I'll just scroll past all of your posts now, because this response has left a bitter taste in my mouth.
@HunterZ @gregatron5 I'm the one who was snapped at. My idea of common courtesy is this: If you don't want to read an article because you don't like the platform that hosts it, don't read the article. Or, if you must, reach out to the article's author. It's neither necessary nor appropriate to scold someone for posting a link to it.
Life is too short, and there’s already enough unpleasantness.
@spdrnl @gleick @bert_hubert Yep, Trumpists want to wrest Russia from China's orbit, and regime change in Europe (putting extractive industries on a pedestal) is one of their goals for achieving that. No more EU (Four Freedoms, Precautionary Principle, Human Rights); it would be a zone dominated by Russia and US.
Look at how US regime is allowing Iran to keep bombing other fuel facilities and ships in the region. Instead of targeting missile launchers they're destroying fuel infra in tandem.
@tasket @spdrnl @gleick @bert_hubert
I can echo this... 🤔
@spdrnl @tasket @gleick @bert_hubert
Not likely. Russia is still only 146 million people no matter what Putin's fantasies are. He's killed a million of them just in Ukraine alone.
@darwinwoodka @tasket @gleick @bert_hubert
True, I meant energy wise, as in a too heavy and unreliable economic dependency.
Also, Russia can incur further additional costs to the EU by its hybrid war fare.
This could add to economic instability with the risk of being drawn down.
An 'involuntary' vazal state.
@gleick Unimaginable, unbelievable, yet true.
"The entire post-1973 petrodollar deal was simple: Gulf sells oil in dollars, America provides the security umbrella. The umbrella is on fire. The refineries are on fire. ... The petrodollar was already the payment..."
And yet, according to this blog, the US is now paying for oil in Yuan to quiet the situation down.
If that is true, the humiliation is complete.
@gleick Holy .....
- what I kept repeating while reading..
Quote: "This is a clusterfuck of historic proportions and everyone who's ever held a rank knows it."
Accurate.
Been posting this since Donny got elected and it's applicable to so many situations
@gleick
Lest we forget this brilliant move —
Where are all our minesweepers?
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/iran-strait-of-hormuz-minesweepers-b2936416.html
No01: “To reach Kharg Island, the Marines aboard the USS Tripoli and USS Boxer must first sail through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has mined.[…]”
It’s entirely possible for such an operation to be conducted from the Gulf of Oman. No Strait passage needed.
If only there were Rs to vote down DoD’s $200B supplemental, or a cabinet willing to invoke the 25th.
📷 Saul Loeb/Getty Images
@gleick summary:
War crashed oil market, admin needs enemy's oil to avoid midterm pain. Unsanctioning bombed enemy because bombing worked too well. Sanctions lifted to fund war, now needed for oil revenue to prevent economic damage from sanctions. F-35s got hit, Iran lied about missile range.
1/2
@gleick summary:
Trump's contradictory statements on Hormuz. Iran officials keep getting assassinated. Gulf allies pissed. Refineries on fire, petrodollar deal failing. Defense industry out of ammo. Strategic reserves drained. Gold markets diverging. Trump's wild press conference. Universe has a sense of humor.
2/2
Just FYI, and to be clear I'm not blaming you for this, some of the comments on that article have some really vile 1930s-style far right stuff full of bigotry and conspiracy theories. The author isn't pushing back on them, in fact he seems sympathetic in some of his replies to them.
@gleick
..."A White House source told Axios they need “about a month to weaken the Iranians more” before attempting this. One month. Of a war Trump described as ‘winding down’ on Friday - three weeks in, which by his count is basically four days… Both statements were made, as far as anyone can tell, by people who occupy the same government and occasionally share a building.
A former Navy SEAL called the plan “insane”. A retired Vice Admiral called it “a massacre-in-making scenario”. A retired Rear Admiral pointed out that even if they seize the island, Iran simply turns off the pipeline at the other end. Frankly, I think they're being extremely polite. This is a clusterfuck of historic proportions and everyone who's ever held a rank knows it."...
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