U.S. Asks South Korea To Send Troops To Strait of Hormuz

[joze44 + 39]

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper asked South Korea to send troops to join a U.S.-led maritime force in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran, Yonhap news agency said on Friday. Esper made the request during a meeting with Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo in South Korea, it added. Jeong told Esper Seoul was considering various options, since South Korean people and vessels are also using the strait. A South Korean defense ministry official did not have immediate comment.
 

[pinto + 293]

 ?

 

[Pavel + 384]

I think they have a bigger problem, much closer than Strait of Hormuz

[BALBOA + 37]

Here we go: 

"Iran and Russia: Getting Ready to Hold Joint-Naval Drills in the Strait of Hormuz?"

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/iran-and-russia-getting-ready-hold-joint-naval-drills-strait-hormuz-71661#disqus_thread

Edited August 9, 2019 by BALBOA

[pinto + 293]

4 minutes ago, BALBOA said:

Here we go: 

"Iran and Russia: Getting Ready to Hold Joint-Naval Drills in the Strait of Hormuz?"

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/iran-and-russia-getting-ready-hold-joint-naval-drills-strait-hormuz-71661#disqus_thread

It's easier to say, everything's ready for the Clash of the Titans...

[francoba + 93]

This world is so predictable... frustrating times for normal people

[50 shades of black + 254]

It would not be unprecedented if other nations like China got involved as well ... In some ways they are already there ... It is obvious that we have strong polarization and strong two sides ...

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

48 minutes ago, pinto said:

 ?

 

South Korea historically imports large amounts of oil from Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

It is in the interest of South Korea (and many Asian countries) to keep the Strait of Hormuz relatively trouble-free and oil tankers moving freely through that region to deliver oil to Asian customers.

[BenFranklin'sSpectacles + 762]

3 hours ago, Tom Kirkman said:

South Korea historically imports large amounts of oil from Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

It is in the intetest of South Korea (and many Asian countries) to keep the Strait of Hormuz relatively trouble-free and oil tankers moving freely through that region to deliver oil to Asian customers.

Maybe.  South Korea aligns with the rest of the developed, Western world.  Developed nations can afford the oil, we're using it ever more efficiently, and our oil consumption is on the verge of a dramatic decline.  Does South Korea really need to care about the Middle East, or would its resources be better spent weaning itself off oil? 

To put this in perspective, consider Trump's mode of operation: make the terms and conditions perfectly clear, use an ultimatum to set a decision deadline, and let people choose.  He doesn't care which you choose, but you will choose.  More often than anyone would have predicted, the world has chosen inaction, underscoring the irrelevance of that issue.  That, ladies and gentlemen, is Trump's end game: prove to the children that they will not, in fact, drown in knee-deep water. 

In this case, Trump has told the world to defend their oil or do without.  I cannot stress this enough: the US doesn't need the Middle East and couldn't care less what its allies decide.  The Strait of Hormuz is a non issue, the world's collective refusal to defend it has proven that fact, and now we can all move on.

And now that we're focusing on solving the problem instead of mitigating it, I'll bet the money formerly put towards that naval task force, an entire US carrier group, a gaggle of US bases surrounding Iran, the 52,000 Americans (military + civilian) employed in Germany, and God only knows what else we're buying could purchase a lot of oil wells & demand destruction.  Let's say all that comes to $200bn annually.  I think that's low-balling it, but we'll go with $200bn.  At $55/bbl, $200bn annually buys 10MMbpd.  If the true cost of policing the Middle East is $400bn annually, then we've replaced the full 20MMbpd traversing the Strait of Hormuz.  So... what are we waiting for?