Two new essays this weekend on rachelandthecity – one on the Iran war spiraling with no exit strategy, and one on how American sanctions have quietly killed 38 million people over 50 years. Plus a breakdown of what happened when Trump asked the world to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump Asked the World to Send Warships. Here’s What Every Country Said.
🇫🇷 France – OFFICIALLY REJECTED. Will not send warships. Defense minister said there is “no question” of sending vessels. Naval forces staying in the Mediterranean.
🇨🇳 China – Refused to join coalition. Called for de-escalation and said “all parties” share responsibility for energy supply. Reportedly sent its own navy to protect Chinese tankers instead.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom – REJECTED warships. Starmer said reopening Hormuz is “not a simple task.” Offered minesweeping drones instead.
🇯🇵 Japan – REJECTED. Defense minister told parliament Japan will not launch a maritime security mission. PM said they’re “examining what Japan can do within the legal framework.” Most of Japan’s oil comes through Hormuz.
🇰🇷 South Korea – No commitment. Seoul said it “takes note” and will “carefully review.” Caught between Washington and its own oil dependency.
🇩🇪 Germany – REJECTED. Defense minister said “this is not our war.” Foreign minister asked what Trump expects European frigates to do that the US Navy can’t.
🇳🇴 Norway – REJECTED. PM said there are “no plans to conduct military operations there.”
🇶🇦 Qatar – LNG production halted after Iranian drone strikes hit its facilities. Declared force majeure. Energy minister told the Financial Times: “This will bring down the economies of the world.”
🇦🇪 UAE – Gulf states lobbied against this war because they knew the consequences. Now they’re being hit by Iranian missiles daily while the US asks for help reopening the strait it helped close.
🇮🇷 Iran – Still attacking ships. Still laying mines. Still controlling the strait. IRGC mocked Trump for “begging” allies for backup.
At least 7 countries asked. 0 warships committed. The most powerful military on Earth asked for backup and got ghosted.
No Plan, No Exit
Trump started a war he doesn’t have a plan to finish, and a senator who sat through the classified briefing just told us exactly how bad it is. Chris Murphy came out of the White House’s secret “Operation Epic Fury” briefing and said the war plans were “incoherent and incomplete.”
Four things are going sideways at once: the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed, cheap drones are overwhelming Gulf air defenses, the conflict is spreading to Lebanon, Iraq, and beyond, and there is no exit strategy. Over 1,850 people have died in two weeks.
Read the full story ->The Quiet War: How American Sanctions Have Killed 38 Million People and Almost Never Worked
A landmark study in The Lancet Global Health found that US and EU unilateral sanctions over 50 years are associated with 38 million deaths. Children under five made up 51 percent of the total. The annual death toll from sanctions – roughly 564,000 – is higher than the annual number of battle-related casualties.
Since 1970, unilateral US sanctions have achieved their foreign policy goals in only 13 percent of cases. We keep doing the thing that doesn’t work, killing hundreds of thousands of people in the process, and calling it foreign policy.
Read the full story ->All of this and more at rachelandthecity.com. If you’re new here, start with The GriftMatrix or browse the suspects.
// Go Deeper on rachelandthecity
