Iran

‘We’re locked and loaded’

Written by SK Ashby

Saudi Arabia's largest oil processing facility was attacked on Friday and while Houthi rebels based in Yemen claimed credit for the attack, the Saudi and Trump regimes are pointing fingers at Iran.

More than just pointing fingers -- Trump appears to be threatening to attack Iran, but only if the Saudis tell him to.

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump on Sunday evening tweeted that the US has "reason to believe that we know" who is responsible for an attack on a Saudi Arabian oil field and the country is "locked and loaded depending on verification" following the crippling strike.

"Saudi Arabia oil supply was attacked. There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!" Trump said.

This is why I just couldn't get too excited about National Security Adviser John Bolton's departure from the White House.

Bolton may be gone, but Trump is still there and he's quite explicitly subservient to some of the worst factions in the world as demonstrated by his statement that he's waiting for Saudi intelligence to tell him what to think, not American intelligence. Trump says he's waiting to be told how he should proceed.

It can be true that John Bolton steered us toward war and also true that Trump is capable of doing that all on his own.

Trump does not currently have a national security adviser, but to some extent it's not clear if it even matters. He's relying on Saudi intelligence, after all. What could his own national security adviser tell him?

Trump himself is patient zero for increased tensions around the world.