Global turmoil & analysis

 Today in Baghdad Iraq, Shelly Kittleson (an American Journalist) was kidnapped. It is currently unknown who kidnapped her, what the motive is, and if the kidnappers belong to a terrorist organization. In my opinion, there is a very high likelihood that this kidnapping is directly connected to the Iran war. Unfortunately, this kidnapping reminds me of the kidnapping of American Journalist Daniele Pearl. Pearl was kidnapped in Pakistan on January 23, 2002, by terrorists connected to Al-Qaeda. Tragically Pearl was executed nine days later. I hope I am wrong, but many circumstances surrounding the kidnapping of Kittleson so far remind me of the situation with Pearl. The other news I want to mention in this post is that today the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group was deployed to the Middle East, making it the third strike group sent to the region. It is important to add that although the Bush is the third deployed, there will not be three in the area at the same time (at least not ...

 Yesterday, Iran attacked a service building at a power and desalinization plant in Kuwait. The attack caused "extensive damage" at the plant and resulted in the death of a worker from India. The targeting of a desalinization plant is significant for two main reasons. First, water is a very scarce commodity in the Middle East as most of the region is desert, and most of the water in the region comes from the ocean. The second main issue that makes the attack very significant is, because most of the water is from the ocean countries in the region rely heavily on desalinization plants to convert the salty ocean water into drinking water. Up to sixty percent of the global capacity of desalinized water comes from the Middle East. In Kuwait specifically, there are eight plants which are responsible for ninety percent of the countries drinking water. In other news, to finish this post many countries are implementing energy restrictions this week as the Strait of Hormuz remains clos...

 The Iran War has been going on for a month. It might be about to intensify because on Friday the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group arrived in the Central Command Area of responsibility. The Group consists of 3,500 sailors, including the 31st MEU of roughly 2,200 Marines. So, the question to ponder is, what are the Marines going to do there? Keep in mind the 82nd Airborne IRF is expected to deploy to the Middle East soon too. If you have an opinion on what will happen write it in the comments.

 Today, the oil market closed with Brent Crude trading at just over $113 a barrel.  In other news, the Houthis made remarks today that set thresholds that they say if crossed would cause them to join the war. In my opinion they are setting the thresholds (all of them either already crossed, or unreasonable) so when they do join the war, they can blame it on the United States, and Isreal.

 In this post I am going to mention two very interesting bits of news from Thursday, and at least one of them is pretty concerning. First, Iran has announced that children as young as twelve can "join the war effort " which is repulsive, but not unheard of especially in despotic regimes. The other news from Thursday that I will mention in this post is, two people (a brother and sister) were indicted for placing an IED at a gate into MacDill Air Force Base. The sister has not been charged with anything yet, but the brother has and is believed that he has fled to China.

In this post I am going to mention new threats being made by ISIS, and finish by briefly discussing a report that came out today about what the troops might face in Iran if there is a ground operation.  First, yesterday a report came out saying ISIS has called for attacks in South, and Southeast Asia, specifically in India, Lastly today, a report came out saying (to summarize) that Iran is preparing to counter the United States if the U'S launches a ground operation. 

The last few weeks I have given updates here and there about Marines being deployed to the Middle East, most likely to conduct operations on the ground in Iran. In the post on March sixth, I mentioned how an exercise at Fort Bragg got canceled, and I explained why the cancellation suggested that elements of the 82ndAirborne might be deployed to the Middle East. Today orders were issued, and I will discuss what is currently known about the situation in the next paragraph. The unit of the 82nd Airborne Division that is being deployed to the Middle East is the IRF (Immediate Response Force) which consists of approximately three thousand soldiers, and is known for being able to deploy anywhere in the world within eighteen hours, and specializes in air assaults, as well as being able to seize critical terrain in contested environments. It is currently unknown when the IRF will be deployed, however the 31st MEU (which consists of up to 2,500 Marines) is expected to arrive in the region Frida...

 Both parts of the title of this post refer to the war currently taking place in the Middle East. In this post I will discuss the two parts of the title, finish by saying what I fear is going to happen, and what I think is happening. I am going to discuss some of the noise first. Saturday the president issued an ultimatum to Iran regarding the Strat of Hormuz. The ultimatum is to open the Strait within forty-eight hours, and if they did not the U.S would start striking electric plants in Iran. Today, the strikes were called off for five days, negotiations were announced, and details of a peace summit are being reported. Meanwhile, the Strait is still closed, thousands of Marines are still on their way to the Middle East, and rumors are going around that elements of the 82nd Airborne are about to be deployed to the region. I fear the United States is going to sign a "deal" with Iran to legitimize ending the war which would give Iran an opportunity to say they outlasted the gre...

 Before I get into the topic of this post, I want to list three things to keep in mind as you read this post. First, it will be about an opinion of mine and if you disagree state your opinion in the comments. Second, it is not political, nothing on this blog will ever be political. Third, this post will build off the post titled "obligation " on January 15. What makes a country strong?  big economy? united population? strong military? I think each of those things are part of it, but what makes the United States a Global Superpower? I would say one of the main qualities that sets us apart is trust. Countries around the world know they can trust us, which along with the other qualities that make a country strong, trust makes us a superpower. With the previous paragraph in mind let me get to the point of this post. As far as I am aware of starting with the Vietnam War, through the current war in the Middle East, some people seem to be so concerned about using our military in for...

 In the last few hours reporting has started to come out suggesting that the United States is about to deploy thousands of additional troops to the Middle East, including a second MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit). In this paragraph to close the post, I am going to list some updates that have occurred since the post yesterday. An oil refinery was hit in Haifa Israel at one point today, Brent Crude hit $119 per barrel, and today a U.S F-35 was shot down by Iran. Bonus reminder to finish the post, for anyone who doubts how evil Iran is, their weapon of choice against Isreal has been cluster bombs. Cluster bombs are internationally banned; Russia also routinely uses them against Ukraine.

Earlier today, Iran threatened to attack two major energy sights, Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar, and the Saudi Aramco Riyadh Refinery in Saudi Arabia. Within the last few hours Iran has carried out said attacks. In the next two paragraphs I will give more known details of the attack (which is almost nothing), mention some statistics about the significance of these sights, and leave you the reader to wonder about the consequences of the attacks. First, in this paragraph I will discuss the attack in Qatar. In Ras Laffan Industrial City, among other things is located the largest LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) field in the world. It is currently unknown the exact details of the attack, but it is being reported that the site was hit by a missile/missiles and that there is significant damage throughout the city. The other attack that has occurred today is at the Saudi Aramco Riyadh Refinery. Saudi Aramco is one of the largest oil producing companies in the world, and the refinery is one o...

 As I write this post, a large attack from Hezbollah towards Isreal is beginning. It is expected that the attack will consist of drones, rockets, and missiles. In this post, I want to give a sort of reality check by listing some things that are going on around the world (some of which I have written about in previous posts) than finish the post by making the case why being aware of what is going on around the world can improve your perspective, and often make you feel more thankful. On this blog I have posted about scores of protesters being murdered by their own government in Iran, numerous terrorist attacks, a growing threat of terrorism in the world, opined about looming wars, and given many updates on the war currently taking place in the Middle East.  The last paragraph is not an exhaustive list of what has occurred around the world since I started this blog. The reason I cover these things, and the specific reason for this post is not only to track events, but in turn to...

 When you first see the title of this post, you might ask what do these two countries have in common?  That is the right question to ask, and the answer (as far as I know) is nothing. However, since my last post these countries are at the center of some very interesting news, so to start the week this post will give an overview of why these countries (Lebanon, and Ecuador) are the topics in this first post of the week. First, I will discuss Lebanon. On Friday (three days ago) reports started to come out, saying that Israel was preparing to invade Lebanon to the Ltanii River (which is roughly 18 miles from the border with Israel) with the stated goal of pushing Hezbollah away from the border. Hundreds of thousands of reservists were called up over the weekend in preparation for the invasion. Early this morning, it was reported that "targeted, and limited" ground operations had begun.  It is currently unknown if the ground operations are to set the ground for the invasion, ...

 Yesterday a KC-135 Stratotanker plane crashed in Iraq Today it was announced that the entire crew of six died in the crash. The cause of the crash is being investigated, as it is suspected that it was caused a by a collision. The other KC-135 Stratotanker involved in the suspected collision although damaged, managed to keep flying and safely land in Isreal.  The other big update from today that I want to mention (there are many to choose from) is the United States is deploying three more warships to the Middle East. One of the ships is the USS Tripoli.  The Tripoli carries the 31st MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) which comprises up to 2,500 Marines. The other two ships each carry up to 2,500 Marines combined. To sum up the second paragraph the United States is deploying up to 5,000 Marines to the Middle East, and in my opinion, it is highly likely that they will be used to fight on the ground in Iran.

 On Thursday, there were two terrorist attacks in the United States, one in Virginia, and the other in Michigan. Many details including a specific motive for either attack is unclear. Officially the FBI is investigating one of the attacks as what it is (a terrorist attack), while investigating the incident in Michigan as "an act of violence against the Jewish Community." In the next paragraphs I will mention some of what is known about each attack, and why I think both incidents will eventually be called terrorist attacks. First, I will discuss the attack in Virginia which is actually being investigated as such. The sole attacker had been convicted, sentenced, and served seven years in prison, for attempting to provide material support for ISIS in 2016. Today on the campus of Old Dominion University, he shot three people, killing one and injuring two. In Bloomfield Michigan, a man from Lebanon who is now a U.S citizen rammed his car through the doors of a Synagogue, hit a sec...

 In this post I will update a topic that I mentioned yesterday, and I will finish the post with a new update on the situation regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Before I begin let me add that today is one of the busiest days of the war so far. Yesterday I mentioned the number of U.S servicemembers who have been injured in the Iran war thus far, including how many of the injured are still in the hospital. The reason I bring this up is today an update came out clarifying that thirty soldiers are still in the hospital with injuries ranging from broken bones to brain injuries. I will close this post by mentioning an update directly connected to the situation regarding oil. Since the post yesterday five oil tankers have been attacked in and around the Strait of Hormuz. This includes an attack that took place a few hours ago in which two Iranian boats packed with explosives ran into two tankers off the coast of Iraq (one of them American owned) resulting in the death of a sailor on one of t...

The most recent update on oil concerning the Iran war, is today Exxon mobile (one of the largest oil companies in the world) announced that they are evacuating non-essential staff from the entire Middle East region. Regarding the sober news mentioned in the title, today news came out that between 140-150 U.S servicemembers have been injured during the war so far, with eight being seriously injured and likely still in the hospital.

The Middle East is the largest oil producing region in the world. The reason I started the post with this statistic is when the oil futures opened Sunday at 6PM many components of the oil market reached prices near $118 per barrel but the market closed down. In the next paragraph, I will state why people should expect the oil market to be crazy (at least in the near future) and why people should not rely on what the market currently says as an indication of stability. The main reason for the current instability is the lack of oil getting through the Strait of Hormuz. In a previous post I described the importance of the Strait, which has been unofficially closed for about a week. The war against Iran is the reason for the "stop" as Iran, (the Strait of Hormuz is off their coast) is essentially keeping the Strait closed with their attacks on tankers, and threats of further attacks. In response to the situation described above, France has deployed the Charles De Gaulle Carrier S...

 Today, Iran fired missiles at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdadi, Iraq. An air defense system at the embassy shot down the missiles before they struck.  The other most notable update from the war since the last post, is today Israel carried out airstrikes on three oil depots in Iran. The strikes are significant as a large part of the economy in Iran is based on oil One of the places hit was the Tehran Oil Refinery, which is the country's largest refinery, which provides 15-18% of the country's energy, and is located roughly nine miles from the center of Tehran, the capitol of Iran. 

 In this post, I will mention two attacks against the U.S forces in Iraq, and I will close the post talking about a report going around that if true, means the United States is about to get much more involved in the war in the Middle East. Today, an oilfield in Iraq was attacked that has U.S workers at it. Also today, there were explosions at Camp Victory in Baghdad. The damage caused by the two attacks mentioned in this paragraph is currently unknown. To close this post, I will talk about a report going around today, and briefly explain why if the report is true, it means the war against Iran is about to change in a big way. It was reported today that an important training exercise for the 82nd Airborne was cancelled and is thought that that is because they're going to be deployed to the Middle East. If they are deployed that is significant because, the 82nd Airborne specializes in parachute assaults, and is known for their ability to deploy rapidly (within 18 hours) anywhere in t...

 Hezbollah is the largest proxy group backed by Iran. A few days ago, they started to launch missiles and drones into Isreal, often as part of attacks coordinated with Iran. For a few hours earlier (Thursday afternoon my time) Israel and Hezbollah were doing back and forth attacks. Where Hezbollah would launch a few missiles or drones into Israel, who would then respond then with some airstrikes in the capitol city of Lebanon, Beirut. The southern suburbs of Beirut are known as a stronghold for Hezbollah. Early Thursday (before the back-and-forth attacks began) the IDF (Isreali Defense Forces) Issued an evacuation order for all residents of the southern suburbs to leave immediately. The scope of the order is unprecedented. Starting about nine hours after the order was issued, (around five in the afternoon my time) and finishing about four hours before the writing of this post, I saw around thirteen airstrikes. It is currently unknown what damage the strikes caused. At the end of th...

 In this post I will list three events: one that happened a few hours ago, one that has been warned about happening soon, and last, a rumor going around that if it happens would be by far the most significant development of the war.  First, I will mention the update. A few hours ago in Beirut, there was very heavy gunfire, and airstrikes during the shooting. The reason for the rapidity of the gunfire is unknown. The "incident" 'lasted about 45 minutes, and intermittent gunfire is ongoing as I type this post. Next, the Houthis have threatened to attack vital sites in Saudi Arabia. This world be significant because, although Saudi Arabia has been engaged in an armed conflict with the Houthis since 2015, given the current tensions in the region, such an attack could trigger a regional event. Lastly, there is a lot of speculation that a Kurdish offensive backed by the United States is about to begin in Iran. The reason I used the word potentially in the title, and speculation...

 The war against Iran is so significant, that until it ends most posts will probably be similar to the last two posts, and this one. In this post I will mention two of the biggest developments since the post yesterday. The first update is regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Before I give the update, let me briefly explain what the Strait is, and why it matters. The Strait of Hormuz is the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open sea. The most important function of the strait is trade, specifically oil, up to 20% of the global oil supply goes through the strait annually. Keep the previous paragraph in mind, as I give my update about the Strait. Between 80-90 oil tankers traverse the Strait daily, but since Sunday, the Strait has been effectively closed due to threats from Iran. Today and yesterday zero tankers have gone through the Strait. The second update is about Syria, yes Syria. According to eight sources with knowledge of the situation, thousands of Syrian troops, includ...

 In this post, I am going to list some of the notable events that have occurred since my last post. All of the updates are from the wars underway in the Middle East (Pakistan against the Taliban, and Israel and the United States against Iran) but mainly the war against Iran. Since the last post, pro-Iran protesters in Pakistan attempted to storm the U.S Consulate in Karachi leading to marines guarding the building to open fire which killed ten. The war between the Taliban and Pakistan has intensified, six U.S soldiers were killed Sunday in Kuwait, and it seems Hezbollah has joined the war. There are many more updates I could list (as I write this post, airstrikes and heavy gunfire are taking place in Beirut), but the goal of this post was to list the MOST notable developments since my last post.