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Drumbeat To War
Author: TriSec    Date: 05/14/2019 09:52:36

Good Morning.

Perhaps you heard the news this weekend; no less than four ships have suffered some sort of "attack" near the United Arab Emirates.



Four ships were targeted on Sunday near the strategic Emirati port of Fujairah, in what the UAE described as a "sabotage attack." One was flying a UAE flag, and another the Norwegian flag. The other two were tankers owned by Saudi Arabia, which described the incident as a threat to the security of global oil supplies.

There were no injuries or deaths, according to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. It did not elaborate on the nature of the alleged sabotage, or offer any indication as to who might be responsible.

...

Images that CNN captured of the Norwegian tanker, Andrea Victory, show damage sustained to the hull of the vessel. In a statement Monday, Thome Ship Management, which manages the ship, confirmed it suffered hull damage after being struck by an unknown object at the waterline and said that it was not in any danger of sinking.

One of the Saudi vessels was on its way to be loaded with Saudi crude oil from the port of Ras Tanura, to be delivered to customers in the US, Saudi Arabia's state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Monday. While the agency didn't mention casualties or oil spills, it did say there had been "significant damage to the structures of the two vessels."

On Monday, the UAE formally asked the US for technical assistance in assessing the vessels' damage, according to a US official. The US experts will look at the damage patterns, try to recover any material from the site, and determine if some kind of missile or weapon hit the ships.


I find it all too convenient that some days back, the United States deployed an aircraft carrier towards the region, and even before that, USAF B-52s had been sent to nearby Qatar. It's not beyond the pale that this is a false-flag operation of some sort, but of course you know who the US claims the primary suspect in these 'attacks' is.


Britain warned Monday that armed conflict might be sparked “by accident” amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran, as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks with officials from European powers that are racing to salvage a nuclear deal with the Islamic republic.

Britain’s foreign secretary offered the warning as Saudi Arabia said two of its oil tankers were sabotaged and received “significant damage” Sunday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, one of the vessels as it was heading to pick up Saudi oil to take to the United States.

Washington has warned shipping companies that “Iran or its proxies” could be targeting maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf region and said it was deploying an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf to counter alleged threats from Tehran.

“We are very worried about the risk of a conflict happening by accident, with an escalation that is unintended really on either side but ends with some kind of conflict,” British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters in Brussels.

“What we need is a period of calm to make sure that everyone understands what the other side is thinking,” Hunt said, adding that he would share those concerns Monday with European partners and Pompeo.


Iran is the Cuba of the Middle East. It's been a thorn in our side since the revolution of 1979; even though we look at some old conflicts and wonder why those places still bear a grudge decades of even centuries later - we're not bad at bearing grudges ourselves.

The question now is when does our next war start?


 
 

19 comments (Latest Comment: 05/14/2019 19:26:16 by Scoopster)
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Comment by wickedpam on 05/14/2019 13:25:25
Morning

Saw Malcolm Nance throwing a lot of side eye at those "attacks" yesterday on twitter too.

Comment by Raine on 05/14/2019 13:35:24
Good morning.

if this ain't wag the tail, I don't know what is.

I am really getting concerned,

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/14/2019 14:11:09
Good morning

You CAN'T investigate me! We're at WAR!!! You tell 'em Sean!

Anyway

Things happen for a reason I suppose. Thanks to my latest illness and tooth issues I've shed 15 pounds from 207 to 192. Which means...

I hardly ever got a good blood glucose reading before, now about 3/4 of them are in range and as I type this I feel a little wobbly which means I might HAVE to eat something 'bad'
Same with blood pressure, haven't had diastolic readings in the 70's for a long time, usually in the high 80's
I haven't touched the snacks in the break room for about 3 weeks now, and still have no desire to.

Be REAL nice if I could keep this up.

Comment by Scoopster on 05/14/2019 14:16:45
Mornin' all..

I would have liked to share my latest weight loss efforts, but unfortunately my scale seems to be broken. (NO I DIDNT BREAK IT FROM NORMAL USE LOL)

Comment by Raine on 05/14/2019 14:18:45
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..

I would have liked to share my latest weight loss efforts, but unfortunately, my scale seems to be broken. (NO I DIDNT BREAK IT FROM NORMAL USE LOL)

I thought it looked like you lost weight in your recent pic. You look great, Scoop!

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/14/2019 14:39:55
I still need to get hotel rooms for the big bash. I guess I need to figure out if I want to do both Saturday and Sunday, which would mean 3 nights - drive up Friday and return home Monday.

Is anything different happening on Sunday that won't on Saturday?

I realized a few minutes ago that I had scheduled Cleo's "surgery" for the 24th (Monday)....oops, that won't work. The vet only does surgery on Monday's so she gets a week reprieve, lucky her.

Oh BTW our 36th anniversary is on the 25th...we'll be home, darn it all

Comment by Scoopster on 05/14/2019 14:47:06
Quote by trojanrabbit:
I still need to get hotel rooms for the big bash. I guess I need to figure out if I want to do both Saturday and Sunday, which would mean 3 nights - drive up Friday and return home Monday.

Is anything different happening on Sunday that won't on Saturday?

I realized a few minutes ago that I had scheduled Cleo's "surgery" for the 24th (Monday)....oops, that won't work. The vet only does surgery on Monday's so she gets a week reprieve, lucky her.

Oh BTW our 36th anniversary is on the 25th...we'll be home, darn it all

I need to do that too.. and get my train tix.... and put in a time out request if I decide to stay longer than just the weekend.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/14/2019 14:51:37
Quote by Scoopster:
Quote by trojanrabbit:
I still need to get hotel rooms for the big bash. I guess I need to figure out if I want to do both Saturday and Sunday, which would mean 3 nights - drive up Friday and return home Monday.

Is anything different happening on Sunday that won't on Saturday?

I realized a few minutes ago that I had scheduled Cleo's "surgery" for the 24th (Monday)....oops, that won't work. The vet only does surgery on Monday's so she gets a week reprieve, lucky her.

Oh BTW our 36th anniversary is on the 25th...we'll be home, darn it all

I need to do that too.. and get my train tix.... and put in a time out request if I decide to stay longer than just the weekend.


One of the disadvantages of driving something like the Prius C is that to pack anything for a more than a day trip means you lose the back seat...otherwise...

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/14/2019 15:38:58
Yup, this is the first time my meter has told me my blood sugar is too low.

Comment by BobR on 05/14/2019 15:39:40
If it helps, we don't really do anything on Sunday after the party except go out for breakfast, and finish any cleaning up.

Comment by Raine on 05/14/2019 16:17:06
Damn... Senator Warren lays it all out here in this thread:






Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/14/2019 16:24:06
Quote by Raine:
Damn... Senator Warren lays it all out here in this thread:





She's REALLY trying to get me to change my mind that I feel she would be better staying in the Senate as a hopeful Senate Majority Leader.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/14/2019 16:26:41
Quote by BobR:
If it helps, we don't really do anything on Sunday after the party except go out for breakfast, and finish any cleaning up.

Looks like leaving for home late morning Sunday would work then. I can still take the Monday off for recovery.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 05/14/2019 16:38:29
RIP Tim Conway.

Damn

Comment by livingonli on 05/14/2019 16:59:58
Still cold up here today but at least it stopped raining.

Comment by Raine on 05/14/2019 18:48:49
Quote by trojanrabbit:
RIP Tim Conway.

Damn

I walked away for a few hours and came back to see this...



Comment by Raine on 05/14/2019 18:50:17
Quote by trojanrabbit:
Quote by Raine:
Damn... Senator Warren lays it all out here in this thread:





She's REALLY trying to get me to change my mind that I feel she would be better staying in the Senate as a hopeful Senate Majority Leader.
I feel the very same way, Rabbit.

Now I'd really like Beto and the Montana governor to run for Senate instead of POTUS.




Comment by Raine on 05/14/2019 18:52:09
What's going on?






Comment by Scoopster on 05/14/2019 19:26:16