Yesterday was a big news day. Oh, sure, Ted Cruz dropped out of the GOP race, but he had lost it already. Bernie Sanders won in Indiana but still got fewer delegates than Hillary; you have to marvel that the Democrats could rig the system to such an extent while the media stays silent. These were not the big story of the day, however. No, that title goes to General Hossein Salami of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who announced that unless the USA stops threatening Iran, it would close the Straits of Hormuz to the USA and its allies. This statement is a veritable thunderclap to which president Obama must respond (but probably won't).
Think about Salami's threat. The Strait of Hormuz carries more than one third of all of the international oil trade in the world. Cutting the flow of tankers through the waterway would cripple Europe, Japan and China. It would also hurt the USA even though we get very little of our oil from the Middle East. The world price of oil would soar. Chaos would follow, both economic and military. Salami's statement is Iran's way of telling America that Iran is in control there.
In the past, a threat of this sort would be met by a strong statement from the American government that we would use our forces to keep international waterways open. Then the threat would go away. So far, Obama has been silent on this latest move by his new "friends" in Teheran. Indeed, one has to wonder if the Iranians are now feeling so flush after getting their $150 billion following the nuclear deal Obama worked out that they are willing to risk an oil cut off which they will be more easily able to weather. We may be witnessing the start of a move towards war by Iran made possible by Obama's ridiculous agreement with the mullahs.
Think about Salami's threat. The Strait of Hormuz carries more than one third of all of the international oil trade in the world. Cutting the flow of tankers through the waterway would cripple Europe, Japan and China. It would also hurt the USA even though we get very little of our oil from the Middle East. The world price of oil would soar. Chaos would follow, both economic and military. Salami's statement is Iran's way of telling America that Iran is in control there.
In the past, a threat of this sort would be met by a strong statement from the American government that we would use our forces to keep international waterways open. Then the threat would go away. So far, Obama has been silent on this latest move by his new "friends" in Teheran. Indeed, one has to wonder if the Iranians are now feeling so flush after getting their $150 billion following the nuclear deal Obama worked out that they are willing to risk an oil cut off which they will be more easily able to weather. We may be witnessing the start of a move towards war by Iran made possible by Obama's ridiculous agreement with the mullahs.
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