https://www.reuters.com/world/middle...bu-2026-09-24/Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Thursday that they had launched #missile and drone attacks on what they described as "a sensitive target" in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh and on Saudi Aramco facilities in the Red Sea city of Yanbu.
The statement came after Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted six ballistic missiles fired by #the Houthis towards the southern province of Taif and Yanbu area on the Red Sea.
demand destruction
a second US surrender to Iran strongly resembling the first one, is on deck
IRAN-U.S. NEGOTIATIONS IN NEW YORK HAVE MOVED BEYOND INITIAL DIPLOMATIC CONTACTS INTO A MORE DETAILED TECHNICAL PHASE, WITH SOURCES IN TEHRAN DESCRIBING THE ATMOSPHERE AS INCREASINGLY POSITIVE, AL JAZEERA'S BUREAU CHIEF IN TEHRAN, NOURDDINE DGHEIR, REPORTED FRIDAY.
No more foreign wars guy promises more foreign war
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-eas...terms-5982ee50Trump has rejected Iran's proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and has told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the midterms, officials said.
..after the midterms
5% of the regular flow
https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/941845Houthis Assure EU They Will Not Target European Commercial Ships in Red Sea
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The Houthi group in Yemen has formally assured the European Union that it will not attack European vessels in the Red Sea, according to the Financial Times, in a message that signals an effort by the group to portray its conflict as being directed solely against Saudi Arabia rather than international commercial shipping.
Two diplomats familiar with the matter told the Financial Times on Friday, that the Houthis made the assurances in a letter sent to the European Union’s foreign policy and security officials. The letter emphasized that the group’s recent military operations along Yemen’s southern coast were not intended to disrupt international shipping through the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
The letter was delivered to European officials on Sept. 10, the same day the Houthis seized control of Yemen’s Mokha port and later took control of several other islands in the Red Sea.
The message appears aimed at demonstrating that the Houthis’ conflict is focused solely on Saudi Arabia, particularly after the group broke a 2022 ceasefire in July and launched attacks against ports and oil facilities in the country.
The Houthis had previously delivered similar assurances to Washington through Omani mediation. US President Donald Trump said the Houthis had contacted him and told him they did not want a war with the United States and would allow most ships to pass through.
Alongside the assurances, major container shipping companies, including Maersk and CMA CGM, have increased their voyages through the Suez Canal and Bab al-Mandeb, with vessel traffic reaching its highest level in nearly three years.
...
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle...an-2026-09-29/US forces exit Iraq after two decades, leaving opening for Iran
BAGHDAD, Sept 29 (Reuters) - US forces are set to pull out from their last bases in Iraq by Wednesday, a departure celebrated as a victory by Iran and its allies who now have deep influence in the country where 4,500 Americans died during more than two decades of war.
Iraqi security experts say the withdrawal — agreed in 2024 under President Joe Biden and carried #out by Donald Trump's administration even as it wages war against Iran — could give Tehran and its powerful allies free rein, while also allowing other US enemies to stage a comeback, including Islamic State.
"Iran stands to benefit strategically from the coalition's departure because it removes a military presence that for years acted as a counterweight to Tehran's influence in Iraq," said Jasim al-Bahadli, an Iraqi security analyst specialising in studying armed Shi'ite groups aligned with Iran.
He predicted that the pro-Iranian militia groups would not only portray the departure as a victory for their movement, but also "seek to translate that momentum into greater influence over security and political decision-making".
Abu Mojtaba al-Yasiri, a commander in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, described the US withdrawal as "a historic victory for the Iraqi Islamic resistance groups and honorable Iraqis, and a crushing defeat for the American project".
"On September 30, we will celebrate the turning of a black page in Iraq’s history and the failure of the occupation to impose its will on our country," he told Reuters. "Iraq has proven that its sovereignty cannot be secured by foreign forces, but by the resistance and the will of its people."
...
Some Iraqi security officials, both in the federal government and the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region, say the US pullout also risks giving new life to Islamic State fighters, who, despite the defeat of their self-proclaimed caliphate nearly a decade ago, retain a sleeper cell network.
At their height, the fighters occupied a third of Iraq and killed thousands of people, including hundreds they videotaped themselves gunning down inside a former US military base.
A lack of US intelligence, logistical support and drones will give Islamic State a chance to regroup, said Kurdish commander Sirwan Barzani.
"For more than two weeks, we have noticed movement by (Islamic State) sleeper cells, after it was announced in the general media that there will be an official withdrawal of the international coalition from Iraq by the end of September," he said. "This has boosted, in my opinion, the morale" of the fighters.
...
As previously reported, there has been considerable internal discussion regarding WWE’s plan to hold its 2026 Crown Jewel premium live event (PLE) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Recently, the U.S. Department of State issued a level three travel advisory for Saudi Arabia, urging citizens to reconsider traveling to the country. Some regions in Saudi Arabia are under a level four advisory, which advises U.S. citizens to leave. Despite this situation, WWE has not formally communicated anything to its staff.https://ewrestling.com/article/lates...-saudi-arabia/The report also mentioned that WWE will implement contingency plans should the situation deteriorate. The company is collaborating with privately contracted security experts in the Middle East to address safety concerns. WWE representatives indicated that it is “too soon” to consider an alternative domestic location for the PLE at this time. In terms of Crown Jewel, WWE has some backup plans for an alternate location if tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalate further, although specific details about these plans have not been shared.
WWE Crown Jewel 2026 is scheduled for November 7th, and, as previously reported, the company is committed to that date in partnership with ESPN.
war in Iraq took a toll of US armed forces
tax cuts and stupid wars are why we can't have nice things, tbh
https://presswatchers.org/2023/03/ho...seems-to-care/
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 1,985,000 veterans who served in 2003 or later have a service-connected disability — or about 40 percent of the total. Applying that proportion to the 1.5 million servicemembers who served in Iraq, that would come to about 600,000 Iraq veterans with service-connected disabilities.
- The Pentagon’s Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center reports having diagnosed 468,424 cases of traumatic brain injury from 2000 to 2022, including both Iraq and Afghan vets.
- A 2015 report from the VA disclosed that 422,167 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan were seen for potential or provisional PTSD at VA facilities following their return from Iraq or Afghanistan.
- A 2014 research study found that rates of PTSD were higher among studies of Iraq-deployed personnel compared with personnel deployed to Afghanistan.
- A 2008 study of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans by researchers at the RAND Corporation found that 14 percent screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 14 percent for major depression, with 19 percent reporting a probable traumatic brain injury during deployment. (The researchers found that major depression is “highly associated with combat exposure and should be considered as being along the spectrum of post-deployment mental health consequences.”) Applying those proportions to the 1.5 million veterans of Iraq, an estimated 200,000 of them would be expected to suffer from PTSD or major depression, with 285,000 of them having experienced a probable traumatic brain injury.
- A 2008 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 15 percent of soldiers reported an injury during deployment that involved loss of consciousness or altered mental status, and 17 percent of soldiers reported other injuries. (Using that ratio would suggest that 480,000 Iraq vets were injured one way or the other.) More than 40 percent of soldiers who lost consciousness met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Altogether, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America group estimates that as many as 1 in 3 people deployed in those wars suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or traumatic brain injury. That would mean as many as 500,000 of the 1.5 million deployed to Iraq.
- The Department of Veterans Affairs’ list of health conditions contracted from serving in Iraq includes infectious diseases like leishmaniasis (also known as the “Baghdad boil”), injuries, and hazardous exposures. It warns that “combat Veterans may have been exposed to a wide variety of environmental hazards during their service in Afghanistan or Iraq. These hazardous exposures may cause long-term health problems.” The VA provides no estimates of exposure or damage, however.
- A 2009 Congressional Research Service report, presenting what it called “difficult-to-find statistics regarding U.S. military casualties” offers one indication of how the “wounded in action” category undercounts real casualties. It found that for every soldier wounded in action and medically evacuated from Iraq, more than four more were medically evacuated for other reasons.
- Hearing loss is common among service-members. A 2005 Department of Veterans Affairsresearch paper found that one third of soldiers who had recently returned from deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq were referred to audiologists for hearing evaluations due to exposure to acute acoustic blasts, and 72 percent of them were identified as having hearing loss. Richard Salvi, head of the University of Buffalo’s Center for Hearing and Deafnessdetermined in 2011 that “as many as 50 percent of combat soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who come back have tinnitus” because of the intense noise soldiers must withstand.
- A March 2010 report from the Ins ute of Medicine concluded that many wounds suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan will persist over veterans’ lifetimes, and some impacts of military service may not be felt until decades later.
- The Costs of War project at Brown University estimates that future medical and disability costs for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will total between $2.2 trillion and $2.5 trillion.
To turn dismal public opinion on the Iran War, more taxpayer-funded TV propaganda was clearly called for
Diesel continues to rip
The most important distinction in the report is between crude and finished products. A rebound in crude exports does not mean usable fuel is returning. Hormuz product exports excluding LPG were reported at about 1 million b/d on September 11, against about 4 million before the war, a gap of roughly 75%. Across the wider Gulf, product exports including LPG fell by nearly 60% in August. Net exports of diesel and gasoil in August were just 390,000 b/d, a little more than a quarter of their prewar level. Whether a crude cargo becomes diesel or jet fuel where it is needed depends on refinery condition, crude compatibility, product specifications and delivery routes.
reopening Hormuz doesn't solve the energy crunch
https://sonar21.com/the-gulf-restart...energy-crisis/
Last edited by Winehole23; 10-01-2026 at 07:35 AM.
Trump's quagmire
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202610014004More than 2,000 US Marines and the Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group are heading to the Middle East as Washington expands its military presence around Iran, an unnamed US official told reporters on Thursday.
The official said the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its accompanying warships had departed San Diego for the region, while a Marine expeditionary force left the base earlier this week.
By the end of November, the United States is expected to have three aircraft carriers and two amphibious groups deployed around Iran, according to the official.
The official said concentrating that level of US military power in the region would give Washington “many options” in dealing with Tehran.
That idiot is gonna start shooting again after the midterms.
Trump being a lame duck plus his worsening mental deterioration will make for interesting times
US Deploys Additional Patriot Air Defense Systems to Saudi, Qatari Energy Sites, Axios Reports
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