Saudi Oil & Syriana (2005)

As they say in The Bible, “There are many, many ways to light Europe.” — Christopher Plummer as Dean Whiting in Syriana (2005)

After a devastating drone strike, for which Yemeni Houthi militias claimed responsibility, the Trump administration & entire US political establishment are lining-up behind the narrative that Iran is responsible for these attacks.

Saudi Arabia now spends ~$68 billion annually on its military, the 3rd largest budget after the US & China. Most of this comes in the form of sophisticated weaponry from American corporations.

But these expensive instruments-of-death were unable to stop a coordinated drone attack from Yemeni militias. This calls into question the usefulness of the Saudi Arabia-US alliance, and the sustainability of the global petrodollar market. A bunch of Yemeni militia techies, possibly (?) using equipment they purchased from Iran, just knocked out a vital choke-point in the global oil supply chain.

Productivity from Saudi Arabia is now halved or worse, and when repairs can be accomplished appears to be a matter of weeks or months. There is much censorship by the Saudi monarchy & its partners in the US. This includes corporate, intelligence & military alliances.

A scapegoat is needed, and quickly. Look for an all-out war drive in the media, against Iran, as a cover-up for this disaster. Expect gasoline prices to rise by at least a dollar a gallon within a month, which is another embarrassment for political leaders during an election cycle, and an added expense for everyone else.

The Trump administration is only the latest version of US imperialism which has laid the groundwork for this crisis, with its unilateral sanctions, embargoes & recklessness. This is about regime-change, and controlling the world’s oil market by force.

The problem for them is that US-Saudi vulnerabilities have just been exposed to the entire world. A US war against Iran looks increasingly unwinnable, based on what we have just seen in the Yemeni conflict.

Pile this disaster on top of the ongoing US wars in Afghanistan, Iraq & Syria, which have all been lost, and global consumers and businesses are about to feel repercussions which are all-too-real. The Houthi militia attack on September 14, 2019 is in many ways blowback from 9/11, which was an inside job.

Movie Time: If you really want to understand what’s going on in the Persian Gulf, with all the conflict & geo-politics, then watch Syriana. It runs 128 minutes, and has at least 15-20 characters of depth who add crucial elements to the film, which means it demands your attention.

That means you have to watch Syriana a few times to start getting the full idea. This film is a masterpiece because it reveals dark truths in its many hidden forms. That’s why it wasn’t a box-office hit. Syriana is the exact opposite of a blockbuster movie, a political film as a work of art.

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