Posted on 01/29/2011 3:33:57 PM PST by therightliveswithus
Bedouin tribesman have reportedly taken control of two towns in the Sinai Peninsula. These two towns are the closest to the Gaza Strip and right next to the border with Israel. There were reports yesterday that Bedouin tribes had besieged a police station in Suez and it appears that these riots have spread. This would effectively end the Mubarak dictatorship’s control of the region. There are no reports of the Egyptian military stepping in here.
The more disturbing news is a threat that has been made by the tribes if Mubarak does not step down. According to one report coming from Time Magazine, they are willing to attack the Suez Canal if Mubarak does not leave. The Suez Canal currently is where a third of the world’s oil and six percent of all products passes through. A seizure of the Canal could spike oil prices beyond the current $90 level, perhaps over $110. This could come to pass despite the fact that Egypt is not a major oil producer.
It has been speculated that the Egyptian army would not allow the Canal, perhaps Egypt’s most important economic element, to be attacked. However, there appears to be little to no protection and one report states that at least one ship has been attacked there. Others have reported fear of passing through due to the unrest.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldthreats.com ...
That is because most in the media studied journalism and minored in ‘studies’ woman, minority, LGBT, etc. They typically lack depth in world and US history.
The media is spinning Egypt like a freedom revolution when in reality it is a Islamic revolution against a corrupt dictator supported by USA/UK ala Iran in 1979.
You will notice that the media does not make any comment about the protestors shouting “ALLAH AKBAR” while attacking the police. Clearly this is a religious reference.
I thought he was, too.
According to his Wikipedia page, he's also gotten into a few scuffles in public, which surprised me.
The United Nations should be dismantled if it fails to protect the Suez Canal from sabotage or blockades.
This is an international life-line.
We have a strategic interest in keeping the Suez Canal moving. If Suez traffic is brought to to stop, Western economies will be brought to the brink of collapse.
Speculators dream, between this and the cold winter. I’ll be paying 5 per gal here in CA before this is over.
***The Suez Canal currently is where a third of the world’s oil and six percent of all products passes through. ****
Ships were scuttled there in 1956 during the Israeli and British action against Egypt, and again in 1967 when Israel captured Sinai. They were removed when Israel and Egypt signed a peace accord. Suez is really not all that important.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Canal
Under the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, the United Kingdom insisted on retaining control over the canal. In 1951 Egypt repudiated the treaty, and in 1954 the UK agreed to remove its troops, and withdrawal was completed in July 1956.
On 4 November 1956, a majority of nations at the United Nations voted for Pearson’s peacekeeping resolution, which mandated the UN peacekeepers to stay in the Sinai Peninsula unless both Egypt and Israel agreed to their withdrawal. The United States backed this proposal by putting pressure on the British government by selling Pounds, which would cause it to depreciate. Britain then agreed to withdraw its troops. Pearson was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
(Obama should be working on asylum MO's for Mubarrak; encouraging him to step down; which he would more readily do, if he has guarantees and a place to go}. Or. . .just tell him to go; but tell him where. . .
(This is the world w/o 'free world' Leadership; thanks to Obama, sitting in America's White House_ Formerly where Leadership of the Free World resided.)
I don't really know the answer, but I'll bet Obama might actually have to make a decision for once.
I've been scouring the internet looking for a good assessment of this situation but haven't as yet found one. If the canal is blocked, however, the effects will be devastating to an already weak economy like ours.
***This has already been tested and found to work.***
Durn right it does! When was the last time you heard of anyone jumping the rez and going on the warpath!
And that little debaucle in SD 1975 does not count as it took place on Indian land! Sarcasm of course!
Sounds like the perfect crisis for the federal government to announce a $1 trillion “Energy Marshall Plan” that won’t be wasted
Not interested at this household in “war fever” this time, to deflect and bailout the insiders and MBS scam.
Ah. We just finished our afternoon ‘what-if’ scenario (as in, what if we go south and get called off to the Middle East.) This is exactly what happened. And then we got deployed to the Suez Canal.
Glad to see everything is going on schedule..
...all this turmoil is cutting into the $$$ action in smuggling...... no tolerance for the low-life criminal element along the Negev.
The reason all of this M.E. stuff is starting up is because the muslims know they have a friend in the WH..and he will do nothing to stop them.
That percentage is off by at least an order of magnitude.
Nowadays, thanks to use of the big VLCC and ULCC tanker ships, few oil tankers use the Suez Canal, mostly because they can’t fit through the canal anyway. That’s why you can sometimes see VLCC’s and ULCC’s from the shore at Cape Agulhas at the very southern tip of South Africa.
Plus or minus?
The Bedouin tribes I saw in Iraq lived in black tents and drove camels around. They did like to hear the sound of our doorguns as we flew over however.
Eh. We’ll find out eventually when it happens, I suppose.
We on CGC MELLON just like to imagine the worst way things could go, so as to be pleasantly surprised when they Aren’t That Bad.
Obama would make sure the ownership of such a project went to the unions and those defined by him as victims of colonial social injustice.
Time to get out the nukes.
Islam is about taking away of freedom .The goal of Islam is world domination and genocide ( Of us infidels) after the world is Islamic, folks.
You’ll enjoy the food in the ME, given your iron digestion. Make sure to take pictures for Uncle Rrrod. If you come back alive, we’ll sell some brothers and all go to Colombia.
It would be pretty hard to have an order of magnitude *more* than one-third of the world’s oil passing through.
Can you imagine wearing black in the desert?
“I don’t think we have a side in this.”
We bought it. We paid for it. It’s OURS!
Oh wait a second...sorry, wrong canal;)
The USA should be prepared to seize the Suez canal.
Before this is over, Obama will be doing the same self flagellation, or having his wookie do it.
Obama means to create a new alliance for America, with the World Wide Caliphate Movement. He is Lawrence of Arabia on liberal fascist steroids.And we will pull his plug.
I don’t know that Obama minds the Suez Canal being shut down. He hates oil as much as he hates America.
Shutting the Suez bodes worse for Europe than the US. Let them shut it down it will teach Europe a valuable lesson about preparedness and vacilation.
“Of course, I’m sure Obama has thought all this through. Chris Matthews assures me he’s very smart.”
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
No doubt about it! I ‘spect Obama may be ALMOST as smart as Chris! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
And don’t forget a few rounds of golf.
I agree, Obama woud consider the closure of the SUEZ canal a plus.....IMHO he has helped plan for it.
It will be years until we realize the damage Zero and the inner sanctum have done in secret.
Wonder if this was just one of the plans by the commies/muslims for their sock-puppet Zero..the long term payouts by Zero and influence abroad creating chaos which will come back around and nail the U.S., rendering the Republican gains in Congress less effective. Of course then the planned chaos at our shores. They want him re-elected in 2012 at any cost. And interesting how Emmanuel and Axelrod are both in Chi-town. Two more excellent candidates for the “One Hundred Heads” contest.
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2010/12/enemies-foreign-and-domestic-petes.html
I sincerely doubt the blockage of the Suez canal would have ANY effect on the US economy other than those caused by political repercussions. To wit:
What percentage of US purchased goods travel through the Suez canal? (nearly none)
What percentage of US SALES travel through the Suez canal?(even less)
What percentage of US-bound oil travels through the Suez canal? (not a drop)
Europe will pay dearly for any loss in transit on the Suez, but if anything, the US could stand to benefit, since all the goods that transit the Suez for Europe could then be sourced from “other places”...
CHINA would suffer more, since a considerable portion of its goods are in transit through the canal at any given moment.
Circles within circles, FRiends...
Closure of the Suez Canal and/or Sumed Pipeline would divert tankers around the southern tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope), adding greatly [6,000 miles] to transit time and effectively tying up tanker capacity.
Considering the amount of tanker oversupply worldwide due to the current global economic conditions, I repeat that a closure of the Suez canal will have a minimal effect on the US economy, especially relative to a canal’s closure effect on Europe. Yes, there would be a momentary blip, but that would be so insignificant, we might as well ignore it.
US oil is mostly imported via pipeline. What tanker traffic there is (mostly Alaskan crude) is already bought and paid for, therefore NOT affected by the fungible nature of oil. There are literally DOZENS of vlcc’s sitting idle waiting for any reason to sail.
You may be correct, but I think you are grossly underestimating the potential fallout.
The Muslim Brotherhood threatened to close the Suez Canal. Hope they don’t end up being in charge, but it doesn’t look good.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.