The US-Iran War Has Begun

[Cristiano]

THE MAGA FRACTURE BEGINS: Joe Kent Just Detonated A Bomb Inside Trump’s War Machine

The head of America’s top counterterrorism agency quit rather than lie about a war he says Israel manufactured to sucker Trump into attacking Iran. He’s not the last.

deanblundell.substack.com

I noticed in his resignation letter that he was still a Trump humper until the very end. Full on cult member who blamed anyone except Trump. It really is a mental illness.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Most interesting part of that post for me: mentioning Israel as reason why America started it.

As member of Trump's inner circle he probably has got good insight about what went on behind the scenes. And it's one of the few times we got this bit of information from an insider.

 

[Noodles]

Most interesting part of that post for me: mentioning Israel as reason why America started it.

As member of Trump's inner circle he probably has got good insight about what went on behind the scenes. And it's one of the few times we got this bit of information from an insider.

I am sure it was "Stronly encouraged" by the Project 2025 Christian Fascists surrounding Trump.

Trump is too far gone and too stupid to make any actual decisions. Just a shitty puppet these days.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Most interesting part of that post for me: mentioning Israel as reason why America started it.

As member of Trump's inner circle he probably has got good insight about what went on behind the scenes. And it's one of the few times we got this bit of information from an insider.

Adam Kinzinger (@adamkinzinger)

Joe Kent has resigned over disagreements on the Iran war. Joe Kent is not suddenly a good guy. He’s a straight up white nationalist. But there are fissures in the MAGA base

substack.com

Joe Kent is a groyper-adjacent white nationalist.

Like Candace Owen and Tucker Carlson, of course he's going to blame the Jews, not Trump, when things go wrong.

ETA

The Crackup of the Trump Elite

Watch now | A few thoughts on the Joe Kent resignation

snyder.substack.com

 

[Lexxi]

The strait will be irrelevant eventually. At least two countries have built pipelines to ports that Iran can't attack, and no doubt several more are working on that as well.

The two oil pipelines helping Saudi Arabia and UAE bypass the Strait of Hormuz

Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline and the UAE's Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline are thought to be able to help partially offset the Strait of Hormuz blockage.

www.cnbc.com

.

The first is Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline network, or Petroline, a roughly 750-mile system that transports crude across Saudi Arabia, connecting Abqaiq on the oil-rich kingdom’s eastern Gulf coast to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea.

The East-West pipeline is estimated to have a total design capacity of 7 million barrels per day, following recent expansions, and Saudi oil giant Aramco said earlier this week that it expects the network to reach full capacity over the coming days.

The second smaller pipeline is the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (ADCOP), or the Habshan–Fujairah oil pipeline. Spanning around 248 miles from onshore oil facilities at Habshan to Fujairah, the pipeline is estimated to handle 1.5 million barrels per day, with a reported total capacity of close to 1.8 million barrels per day.

nearly 20 million barrels per day that typically transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

I noticed in his resignation letter that he was still a Trump humper until the very end. Full on cult member who blamed anyone except Trump. It really is a mental illness.

Yep. I've said/noticed similar things about the rare occasions Republicans criticize Trump. They are often very careful to blame everybody but the man in charge. Like that one idiot who gave a whole speech on how it was so horrible of Stephen Miller to let Trump do this other terrible, stupid thing. Hard to tell how much of this is how crazy they are and how much of it is just cowardice. They are scared shitless of actually attacking Trump.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

The strait will be irrelevant eventually. At least two countries have built pipelines to ports that Iran can't attack, and no doubt several more are working on that as well.

This makes as much sense for people suffering high fuel prices right now as telling "Los Angeles doesn't need to have a good public transportation network, because flying cars are next around the corner."

Does it solve the current problems? No. Aside KSA has that infrastructure already in place, did it change anything? No.

 

[Soen Eber]

This makes as much sense for people suffering high fuel prices right now as telling "Los Angeles doesn't need to have a good public transportation network, because flying cars are next around the corner."

Does it solve the current problems? No. Aside KSA has that infrastructure already in place, did it change anything? No.

It means eventually Iran's threats will lose relevance.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

It means eventually Iran's threats will lose relevance.

Yes, but when is "eventually" in your estimation?

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Reuters Exclusive: US weighs military reinforcements as Iran war enters possible new phase

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration is considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East, as the U.S. military prepares for possible next steps in its campaign against Iran, said a U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter.
The deployments could help provide Trump with additional options as he weighs expanding U.S. operations, with the Iran war well into its third week.

Who could have seen it coming?

In some ways it's completely understandable -- it's the military's job, after all, to plan for various possible contingencies, in case they ever become necessary. But it's a long way from "no boots on the ground."

 

[Free]

But it's a long way from "no boots on the ground."

A shame they fail to remember that humans are in those boots.

 

[Noodles]

A shame they fail to remember that humans are in those boots.

Richbassholes do not see the poors as humans though.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

You might remember my post about Jubail Industrial City and Yanbu. Yanbu is located in KSA at the Red Sea, so in the West far away from Iran.

The main idea about Yanbu was having a backup plan in case Iran goes all-in and starts wrecking havoc, which Iran cannot reach in order to keep trade flowing.

It was a good idea back in the past, reality is that Iranian drones have targeted an oil refinery of Saudi Aramco in Yanbu today and one hit its target. Yanbu is about 930 miles away from Iran.

According to Saudi officials there was minimal impact. The problem with Iran's drones though is that they got many more they can fire. And Iran's strategy right now is targeting all major oil and gas installations in the area, no matter where.

The main take-away is that even Yanbu is not out of Iran's reach, and they might fire a bigger amount of drones at it very soon.

Loading…

www.reuters.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Financial Times: Trump sails into battle with Lloyd’s of London (Evernote link because FT paywall).

Reuters: ‘Not our war': Europe says no to Trump (free to read, I think).

 

[Soen Eber]

A shame they fail to remember that humans are in those boots.

Are any of them billionaires?

 

[Cristiano]

Adam Kinzinger (@adamkinzinger)

Joe Kent has resigned over disagreements on the Iran war. Joe Kent is not suddenly a good guy. He’s a straight up white nationalist. But there are fissures in the MAGA base

substack.com

Joe Kent is a groyper-adjacent white nationalist.

Like Candace Owen and Tucker Carlson, of course he's going to blame the Jews, not Trump, when things go wrong.

ETA

The Crackup of the Trump Elite

Watch now | A few thoughts on the Joe Kent resignation

snyder.substack.com

Marco Rubio said the reason we attacked was because Israel was planning an attack. He has walked back his comments, but that was one of the original reasons, so it is not out of thin air or because of "the Jews".

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Poor MAGAts have to choose if they hate Islam or Judaism more. There are no heroes, just different kinds of hate.

 

[Soen Eber]

Yes, but when is "eventually" in your estimation?

I would have to research but a random guess marks it as 5 to 7 years. Proven technology, plenty of motivation, all. they need is Saudi Arabia to expand capacity to the Red Sea to lease out and then build connections to that. Key infrastructure can be hardened and/or buried.No worries about land buyouts or the planning process, plans have sitting in desk drawers ever since Iran started to go crazy. It's a Hoover dam equivalent, not a moon shot, and Arabs have done megaprojects before, as have their European contractors.

 

[Free]

The archbishop in Jerusalem is named Pizzaballa? That's so radical.

Cardinal Pizzaballa: Abusing God’s name for war is the gravest sin - Vatican News

Speaking against the backdrop of continuing conflict, death, displacement, and division, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem expresses his belief that ...

www.vaticannews.va

“The abuse and manipulation of God’s name to justify this and any other war is the gravest sin we can commit at this time” said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa at a webinar on the conflict ravaging the Middle East.

“War”, he continued, “is first and foremost political and has very material interests, like most wars. We must do everything we can to leave no room for this pseudo-religious language, which speaks not of God, but of ourselves”.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem was commenting on the words of the U.S. Secretary of War who, during a briefing, quoted Psalm 144 to invoke a divine blessing on the ongoing U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran.