Donald Trump asked for help. It was denied. So, the United States military took care of the problem itself by dropping bunker-buster bombs on anti-ship missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz.
After Operation Epic Fury was underway, Iran decided to start attacking ships in the area of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane in the Middle East.
Trump asked our allies in NATO to help secure the Strait, and to this point, every one of them refused, which led to Trump dropping 5,000-pound bombs on anti-ship missile sites along the coastline.
In the opening salvo of Operation Epic Fury, dozens of top Iranian officials were killed, including the Supreme Leader.
As new leaders rose, they were hit. Finally, the son of the late Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, reportedly took control.
One of his first orders was to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz remained closed to send a message to the United States, along with the threat by state media that oil would soon be selling at $200 a barrel. Iran did not need to sink every ship, only threaten to. Nearly two dozen ships have been attacked, which was enough to all but make it impossible to insure ships using this route. Without insurance, the Strait is effectively on lockdown.
He also threatened his neighbors to declare their loyalty, demanding that any US bases operating in their countries be closed. He stated, "We share land or maritime borders with 15 neighboring countries and have always sought warm and constructive relations with all of them. These countries must clarify their stance toward the aggressors against our homeland and the killers of our people. I advise them to close those bases as soon as possible,” reported the BBC.
One of my reports yesterday outlined how every NATO country that has been asked for help has refused.
The most notorious refusal, in my opinion, came from the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, who stated, “This is not Europe’s war, but Europe’s interests are directly at stake. As this war expands, the EU’s priority remains the protection of our citizens.” Let those words sink in... "This is not Europe's war."
As I stated in that report, Ukraine was not the United States' war, but we answered the call and have contributed more to its defense efforts than any other country, and it is not even close. The United States contribution, according to the latest Al Jazeera report, is more than all other countries combined. And it was not "our" war.
The UK, Italy, Australia, Germany, Japan, and the list goes on… they all said no. Trump responded, "Whether we get support or not, I can say this, and I said it to them: We will remember."
Trump being Trump, he then reversed and said he didn’t need anyone else’s support, and the United States would take care of it ourselves. Then reports surfaced that the bunker-busters had been unleashed.
CENTCOM posted to X, "Hours ago, U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz.”
Oil prices have increased by more than 40% since the start of the conflict, with Brent Crude now selling at over $103 per barrel, and WTI Crude selling for more than $95 per barrel, reported the Wall Street Journal. Trump has never had a high opinion of NATO, mostly because NATO has heavily relied on the United States, while the United States has never really had to call on NATO to help. Trump has been asking the question of what would NATO do if we called on them to help, and he just answered it himself: "So this was a great test because we don't need them, but they should have been there."
This was a test… and NATO failed miserably.
