Over the past weekend, the Trump administration carried out a massive strike and destroyed only the military targets on Kharg Island. The equipment on the island that was needed to keep the oil industry going was spared. Trump posted this on Truth Social:
…for reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the oil infrastructure on the island.
And what is this decency Trump is referring to? It is the preservation of the resources that the Iranian people can use to enrich their country after the mullahs are thrown out. It is the same playbook Trump used in Venezuela. Get rid of bad guys, but don’t destroy the entire nation or their ability to be productive on the world stage. In other words, give them a chance to use their own resources for their nation’s benefit. This is the Trump doctrine – make your country great again.
Barbara Boyd from Promethean Action characterized the Kharg Island offense this way, “[It] is the complete demolition of a fifty year financial empire built on oil, terrorism and manufactured crisis.”
For half a century, we have all been at the mercy of Wall Street and the City of London, who have made oodles of money speculating on Middle Eastern oil. London became the central hub for oil pricing, insurance, and shipping worldwide. The more uncertainty there was, the more money there was to be made in the form of higher insurance premiums, futures, and price per barrel.
In 1979, the overthrow of the Shah of Iran ushered in a band of hypocritical religious zealots who are committed to subjugating their own people and waging permanent war in the Middle East. Their assets are all sheltered in London real estate and offshore accounts. They personally live like kings, benefitting from Western education, medicine, and scientific discoveries, all the while shouting, “Death to America.” But the worst of all, their populations suffer unspeakable brutality and human rights violations.
The oil speculators are just fine with the current regime in Iran. As long as there is uncertainty and the risk of terrorism from Iran, the cost of insuring tankers and the price per barrel of crude oil will be exponentially higher.
Trump official Peter Navarro has coined this the “10 Trillion Iran Terror Premium.” He estimates that an increase of $5-$15 per barrel, due to risk and uncertainty over the last twenty-five years, has cost the people of the world at least $ 10 trillion. Once the “Iran Terror Premium” is removed, the geopolitical forces will settle, and perhaps oil will drop down to $60 per barrel ($2.80 a gallon) instead of the $110 per barrel ($4.00 a gallon) we see now. This would be a welcome change that would spark enormous economic growth.
So, this appears to be what is at stake regarding the Iran conflict, and all the naysayers crying about Israel, Zionism, forever wars, and the loss of American lives may be the ones who stand to lose the most if the current Iranian system falls. Their criticism may simply be a self-preservation strategy to keep the status quo going and protect the interests that an unstable, terroristic Iran offers. They are happy to perpetuate permanent conflict in the Middle East for their own personal gain.
Is this why NATO and the other nations of the world are not stepping up to protect the Strait of Hormuz? Time will tell.