A work hypothesis
If you followed my first lesson you will recognize that I sometimes repeat myself here. The information I am repeating is vital to understand the world. But I will to my utmost try not to continue doing that unnecessarily.
The proxy war that the Saudis and the United States are enforcing in Yemen with the destruction of the Hodeida port is all about safe passage for merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden and the northwest of the Indian Ocean. The Iranian regime is said to be the instigator of the unrest in Yemen.
The long expected American war against Iran may have already started in 2019. But it didn’t start from zero, it has been escalating for a long time. Iran is very much responsible for the belligerent situation in Syria between them and Israel and the US (other fighting nations and ethnic groups here omitted). And president Trump is a friend of Israel. So, yes, he is a cog and he is the biggest cog in the US war machine. I think that it still revolves mostly around China. The Iranians, the Chinese, or maybe both regimes supposed shenanigans in Yemen happened because they wanted to boost the Somali piracy in order to shut down or hinder transit for western merchant ships with the destination east USA and Europe sailing through the Red Sea.
And probably the Chinese conspires in the Persian Gulf region since the Chinese buy oil from both Saudi-Arabia and Iran and every other country in the Persian Gulf that sells oil.
And they are suspected of instigating the Somali pirate activity in the west Indian Ocean, probably by arranging for the Somali pirates to use the port in Hodeida in Yemen for negotiations with the shipping companies, negotiations that could take up to a year for every hijacked ship. Cause I know of no hijacked Chinese merchant ships.
If you Think that the Yemeni people got the short end of the stick, consider what would have happened if the Maritime sea routes to Europe and eastern USA would have been cut off.
Question: Why would China want to cut their own supply lines and trade routes? The answer is, they don’t want to cut them! They want to monopolize them.
And if you think that it is easier to sneak into the Red Sea passed the American base in Djibouti by the African horn, with a skiff with a fabric rooftop, loaded with ten men armed to the teath who are clearly not out on a fishing trip, than it is to sneak in with a large merchant ship you’d better think again. They surely prefer not to challenge the American Navy with their hunting vessels, but they feel safe sailing into the Red Sea with their booty ship. They know a merchant ship wont be sunk by the Americans and they have hostages on their way to Hodeida in west Yemen. The American Navy and Airforce are ill equipped for fighting piracy. Hodeida had to be bombed.
The so-called Saudi-led coalition, which the United States is an important part of, supports the legitimate authority in Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition is trying to take control of the important port in the city of Hodeida, which is located by the Red Sea. The city was controlled by the Houthi militias in 2018.
The trade routs at sea goes from the Middle East, eastern Africa and East Asia into the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea and further up to western Europe and the eastern United States. The merchant ships also go in the other direction.
It is possible to extend the sea routes around South-Africa but it is more common for ships to become wrecked or lose containers due to high sea. (But it is still a much trafficked sea route, for the South-Americans.) Also, the distance is considerably longer and most European and North-American merchant ships may not even be built to cover the extra distance without filling up on extra fuel oil for their engines, and China is the number one player in Africa and around Africa’s coast band. In Tanzania alone there are just as many Chinese as there are Africans. Tanzania is tangibly conveniently localized at the east-coast neighboring Uganda, for the Chinese to get an edge in gaining access to Uganda’s untapped oil reserves.
But it may be that the governments and shipping companies in the west have just made a cold hammered economic calculation and/or risk assessment and come to the conclusion that it is not a long term viable option to sail around South-Africa since you would have to add another 30+ days to the voyage.
Somali pirates have begun to use mother ships to significantly expand their reach. They now also use rocket launchers.
When comparing the CIA WORLD FACTBOOK 2015 with the CIA WORLD FACTBOOK 2018-2019, Uganda is not included as a state in the later issue. This Uganda has in common with Japan and Paraguay, which are also not included in this later issue.
Uganda, located in Africa’s inland 1,200 km southwest of Djibouti, sits according to oil prospects from 2008 on oil in the ground that has been estimated to be greater than or equal to that of the oil-fields in Saudi- Arabia and the Persian Gulf. “Ugandan oil reserves can correspond to the total oil reserves of all of the Gulf countries put together”, according to Sally Kornfeld, analyst at the Office of Fossil Energy at the United States Department of Energy. Planning of the construction of refining capacity and pipelines are underway. There is also the question of what oil quality they have found in Uganda. Is the oil suitable for making gasoline from? It’s a big deal if it is.
Who will put their hands on that oil? The main reason, which is related to ”Freedom of navigation” in the South China Sea waters, why the Americans are putting pressure on the Chinese in the South China Sea right now is Uganda, and their decision on who will get to buy their oil is crucial to what’s going to happen in the world in the future. Since the US and their allies merchant ships, oil tankers and the US Navy, frequently traffic the South China Sea waters, Freedom of navigation is obviously important. He who controls the choke-Points i.e. the straits in southeast Asia, is likely to be the number one buyer of the Ugandan oil. It is either going to be the US or it’s going to be China.
It contradicts the view on the objective for the US Department of Defense, but the United States would rather see a full-scale war on China sooner rather than later. It actually is self-evident. A weak opponent is better than a strong opponent, if they have to fight in the first place.
It is possible to defeat Afghanistan in war. The day when the Chinese consider themselves to be strong enough to project their power-language in other parts of the world than China’s mainland, Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang and the South China Sea, they are likely to begin with completely crushing the pride of the Afghans, to overthrow the country so that it can be used as a grain storage and a logistic hub and springboard for invading eastern Europe. In order for it to be possible, the Chinese must first make the country of Afghanistan their private brothel as once the Mongols did before them in history. This will cause in particular eastern Europeans and western Europeans to cheer, and that’s all in good order. The problem is, as I mentioned, that Afghanistan will only be a Chinese springboard for invading Europe, which will be the main objective for the Chinese.
But first, the Chinese must establish the Silk Road Economic Belt and secure their military transit routes through a number of countries and in multiple places. Beijing wishes transit and military access to the Malacca Strait and other straits in southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Persian Gulf to name the most important examples. These sea-routes are also part of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
Donald Trump and the United States do not wish to see a strong maritime China. The company Genie Oil and Gas will extract the oil below the Golan Heights. Trump wants to protect the shipping-lanes through the Strait of Hormuz, Malacca Strait, Sunda Strait and Lombok Strait, the Indian Ocean, the Arab Sea, the Red Sea, the Suez Canal and the Gibraltar Strait by forcing the Chinese to invade eastern Europe by land and not the United States allied (or allies) in western Europe by sea and certainly not presumably oil-rich Israel.
A Chinese invasion will come at some time, we just do not know when although we know that it will not come in the next few years. The United States powerful nuclear arsenal guarantees that the Chinese will not try to invade the United States mainland. You may think that invasion scenarios should be a thing of the past, but it is only we westerners who think like so.
According to my work hypothesis, Trump is doing his best to sidestep and juggle with various statements in the purpose of throwing gravel in the eyes of people and nations to appear as Syria’s savior in need when it’s really about safe trade-routs for merchant ships and countering Iran and China. So keep an eye on the ball! But I would have done the same practical things in Trumps seat. Though I would at the same time have told the truth to my people and to the world.
Vladimir Putin wants to push the Chinese attack routs as far down to the Indian Ocean as they possibly can. Kremlin Russians are afraid of losing influence to China over Azerbaijan and Russia’s narrow southern buffer front. There in the Caspian Sea Russia and Azerbaijan have major oil reserves.
India is the third largest crude oil importer in the world. The Indians want to avert the Chinese interest in the other direction to Argentina, the Falklands and South-America.
Chile and Argentina together form all of the southern parts of South-America. Chile is located by the Pacific Ocean and Argentina is located by the Atlantic Ocean. Chile is in the US pocket and Argentina is largely in China’s pocket. Both Chile, and Argentina in particular, have plenty of raw materials.
Homework:
Have a map in front of you when doing your homework today!
Can you see any possibilities today for the Chinese to project enough power, with only two available air-craft carriers, in the South China Sea and extensively into the Indian Ocean to confine the US in order to control who Uganda shall sell their oil to?
Both the US Navy and the Chinese navy each have access to a safe port and then some in the Indian Ocean. Chinese port (civilian for now) is on the large island of Sri Lanka just south of India. American port is on a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
The Chinese reportedly have a port and an airfield in the southwest of Pakistan in Gwadar in the Gulf of Oman. But the Americans have airbases in Kuwait (semi-american), Qatar and UAE and a port in Bahrain in the Persian Gulf.
Both China and the US have ports and air-strips in Djibouti by the African Horn.
Consider the Malacca Strait south of the China Sea. What can you find out about the by Malacca Strait surrounding countries? Who has the means to control the Malacca Strait? Is it perhaps Malaysia even?
Roger M. Klang, defense political spokesman for the Christian Values Party (Kristna Värdepartiet) in Sweden
The strategist cowboy 