Politics

[farmer_john]

Tell that to the Ukrainian army.

Yall seem to fail to read it was a mistype had 2 housefires and a commercial fire yesterday swapped bad for good in post wich i corrected . And im not about to tell myself shit

 

[MS 9x56]

NATO was required at the time but that time is about 25 years past what should have been its expiration date. In my opinion the US should stop threatening and just quit the NATO alliance.

 

[mark-hunter]

It has been a few years sense I studied maritime law for my seamanship corses but wouldn’t and attack on a tanker by Iran be construed as an act of war against whatever country the vessel was flagged under?

In theory, you mean?
Maybe.

Now give some recent example of starting the war for this reason within last 50 years?

In good old times, when maritime law was invented, the things were very much more simple.
British merchant vessel, had british crew, british flag, lloyds insurance, ship often armed with guns, etc.... Now, touch it if you dare.
But that was yesterday.

Today you have:
Foreign flag vessel (Bahama, Dutch Antilles, Malta, Singapore, Liberia etc - called flag of convenience)
Owned by western company, usually shareholders.
Given to technical operation managment to offshore company, in Cyprus or Singapore.
Manned by Indian, or Filipino or other crew.
And often rental under charter party, to any other cargo shipping company in any other country of similar structure.

That ship gets hijacked or targeted.
Which exact country will declare war? Send national army / navy? From Liberia? Or from Bahama?

Somali pirates (usually with impunity) proved states incompetence to defend their flag ships.
And Somali pirates were guys in slippers, boats with outboards, and AK47s.

 

[Altitude sickness]

It’s funny how Joe Kent addressed his resignation letter to the President not his immediate supervisor. To appear higher in the food chain I suppose.

I understand his anger with how his wife was killed. A lot of basic fundamentals were not followed that day.
But her death has nothing to do with the Iran neutralization operation.

I understand why foreign nations would be hesitant to jump into the Straits defense with zero notice. The U.S. didn’t brief them ahead of time for OPSEC and that was prudent. but to now expect them to jump into the fray and be on station and operational in a week or two is a big ask.

I think they should do it to protect their oil source but do understand it’s not always as simple as it seems. Also Iran has nothing to do with the NATO agreement as Trump keeps bringing up NATO.

I hope Trump is putting as much heat on Xi Jinping as he is European Allies. No China should not send equipment or personnel. But a simple message to the Iranian leadership (whoever that is).

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

It baffles me why we are letting Iranian oil continue to load at Kharg Island and transit the Strait of Hormuz. It doesn't take a great military strategist to figure this out and the US could easily turn off the tap. Iran would quickly become a larger version of what we're seeing in Cuba.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/iran-moves-own-oil-hormuz-082335077.html

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/iran-war-us-israel-trump-03-18-26 ​

Israel targeted Iranian intelligence minister in overnight strike, official says​

Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib attends the inauguration ceremony of the 6th term of the Assembly of Experts in Tehran, Iran on May 21, 2024.
Vahid Salemi/AP
Israel targeted Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib in an overnight strike in Tehran, according to an Israeli official, a day after killing the country’s top security official, Ali Larijani.

The official said Israel has yet to confirm his death.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that Israel would continue to target and kill members of Iran’s leadership. “The Prime Minister and I have instructed the (Israel Defense Forces) to continue hunting the leadership of the terror and repression regime in Iran,” Katz said in a statement.

 

[mark-hunter]

I think they should do it to protect their oil source but do understand it’s not always as simple as it seems.

Paying the price in blood, eventually is an issue.
And paying actual price of navy operations for prolonged operation is an issue.
So, not so simple

 

[KJE81]

NATO was required at the time but that time is about 25 years past what should have been its expiration date. In my opinion the US should stop threatening and just quit the NATO alliance.

I think so aswell, as it stands now I believe that neither the other members nor the most likely/only adversary (Russia) believes that the US under Trump would heed the call or at least not do so in any meaningful way.

And there are no guarantees that Trump is an anomaly, there might be other future republican presidents pushing a similar agenda. So Europe should not, in my opinion, be tempted to wait until his time as president is over thinking that things will return to normal.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Many are saying that Trump got the go ahead to attack Iran from MBS during Trumps 2025 visit to Saudi Arabia.

It’s amusing that most blame Israel for influencing the U.S.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

 

[KJE81]

It was an interesting watch, this article seems to be on the same theme: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/17/..._exp=up-next-article-end&tenant_id=related.en

 

[WAB]

Strategically the Strait of Hormuz is an interesting question. Saudi Arabia has the greatest potential to increase oil production at the lowest cost. However, with the strait shut down, they are constrained by pipeline capacity to move oil to their export terminal on the Red Sea, Yanbu. Russia has a nagging problem with random explosions in their oil systems, thank you Ukraine! Venezuela will increase production, but the quality of their crude limits market potential.

The country with the greatest potential to fill the gap is the US. If we in fact cover a significant portion of the deficit, global trade could see a permanent shift. We have artificially constrained our oil production for decades due to political interference. Please note that I am very intentional in labeling it political interference and not environmental concerns! The Trans Alaska Pipeline had a startup design capacity of 1.2 MM barrels per day, with an ultimate potential of 2 MM. it currently operates at less than 0.5 MM. the reserves are there but the politicians have not allowed access. This story is repeated across the industry.

Take the constraints off the US industry and the strait becomes much less strategic and the US is strengthened globally.

 

[mdwest]

So… maybe we’re perfectly happy with the straits being closed for a few months while we ramp up production?

2-3 months of pain in exchange for decades of reward…

 

[Altitude sickness]

WAB, isn’t there also a fine line of too much production? Shrinking margins and ability to produce capital for future exploration. So similar to the diamond industry, we want a steady supply, but not too much to create a glut. Breaking the backs of most small operators and harming the margins of big operators

 

[Pondoro]

So… maybe we’re perfectly happy with the straits being closed for a few months while we ramp up production?

2-3 months of pain in exchange for decades of reward…

Tell that to China, South Korea and Japan

 

[mdwest]

Tell that to China, South Korea and Japan

think I just did…

The Chinese are not of any concern… the US would prefer to see their economy take a hit…

And if you would bother to read @WAB ’s post, it’s about a change in global trade and removing the strategic importance of the Straits of Hormuz… so that the Iranians no longer have control of the global market..

Something anyone with any sense would welcome..

But… since you prefer to stamp your feet and cry rather than actually read or become knowledgeable about anything… I suppose thinking you might read and comprehend WABs post is a bridge too far…

 

[RLD]

BMW? No big loss. A bit off subject but a couple of my neighbors have had nothing but problems with their BMWs and notoriously expensive to fix.

Their employees in South Carolina might disagree with you. And it is just one example of a company building infrastructure to reduce their reliance on American production. Plenty of others are doing the same thing.

 

[RLD]

Have you listened to Rubio, Vance and even Desantis? All much more articulate than Trump. There’s only one Donald Trump and in some ways, that’s good and bad.

I am quite fond of Rubio and Desantis, and many other Republicans. Vance I am not so sure about.

 

[RLD]

It has been a few years sense I studied maritime law for my seamanship corses but wouldn’t and attack on a tanker by Iran be construed as an act of war against whatever country the vessel was flagged under?

What makes an Act of War, or casus belli is actually very complicated.

Attacking a civilian ship with military forces would be a casus belli if the nation that the ship is tied to choses to treat it as such. It's kind of up to the "victim" nation to decide.

 

[Pondoro]

think I just did…

The Chinese are not of any concern… the US would prefer to see their economy take a hit…

And if you would bother to read @WAB ’s post, it’s about a change in global trade and removing the strategic importance of the Straits of Hormuz… so that the Iranians no longer have control of the global market..

Something anyone with any sense would welcome..

But… since you prefer to stamp your feet and cry rather than actually read or become knowledgeable about anything… I suppose thinking you might read and comprehend WABs post is a bridge too far…

You left out South Korea and Japan..last time I checked they were allies..