The Oil Wars

If you are looking for one word to explain Trump’s decision for starting these wars, it would be “oil.”

“Energy dominance is a blueprint for rewiring the American economy for the age of AI before China can do the same,” explains Business Insider.

Other points made in this analysis include:

“(T)he plan boils down to three steps: maximize America's share of the world's energy supply, especially its fossil fuels; leverage the hell out of 'em; and then make rivals both foreign and domestic bend the knee.”

“American-controlled fossil fuels can now be used to try to push other countries into compliance with our petrostate.”

“But that dominance is not total, and the Trumpists see China as the biggest threat to it. Beijing's solar, wind, and battery tech has become so efficient and cheap that it's undercutting the appeal of US-controlled fossil fuels.”

“(The) Trumpists insist (that) energy dominance is more than simply an instrument of geopolitical leverage. It's a blueprint for rewiring the American economy for the age of AI before China can do the same. AI data centers require massive amounts of power, and the only way to reliably supply it at the scale required, the administration has claimed, is with fossil fuels. Wind and solar power are too susceptible to the elements.”

There are other factors at play here for sure, but the Business Insider analysis is one deserving of serious thought.

HEADLINES:

• Drilled: How Trump's "energy dominance" plan helped fuel the new war in Iran (Business Insider)

• Iran targets U.S. allies, hits American Embassy in Riyadh (Axios)

• U.S. shuts embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait after drone attacks; Israeli troops stage incursion into Lebanon (NBC)

• US nationals urged to leave Middle East as conflict spreads (BBC)

• Cuba Is Next (Atlantic)

• Secret talks, a firefight off Cuba and 72 hours of near silence from Trump (Miami Herald)

• Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s assassination will likely backfire. Here is why (Al Jazeera)

• Hegseth: ‘We didn’t start this war but under President Trump we’re finishing it’ (NPR)

• Trump says Iran operations likely to last 4 to 5 weeks, but he’s prepared ‘to go far longer’ (AP)

• Trump pursues Iranian decapitation without a plan for what comes next (WP)

• Israel strikes Lebanon after Hezbollah rocket fire as Iran conflict widens (BBC)

• Iran and allied armed groups fired missiles at Israel, Arab states and U.S. military targets around the region on Monday, while Israel and the United States pounded Iran as the war expanded to several fronts. Kuwait mistakenly shot down three American warplanes over its skies, but the U.S. military said all six pilots ejected safely and are in stable condition. However, the U.S. casualties of the war have risen as U.S. Central Command confirmed a fourth U.S. member succumbed to their injuries. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered zero guidance on to how long the war would last at his press conference. [AP]

• War isn’t what it once was (Silver Bulletin)

• How a pacemaker for the brain could help Parkinson’s patients (CNN)

• When Does the AI Bubble Burst? (Counter Punch)

• AI Will Never Be Conscious (Wired)

• AI doing 75 per cent of office tasks, but employees have to work 5x more: Founder explains how automation increases workload (Economic Times)

• AI saves me hours every week — here are the 9 ways I use it (Tom’s Guide)

• China’s Parents Are Outsourcing the Homework Grind to A.I. (NYT)

• Nation Forced To Eat 35 Million Canadians To Survive Harsh Winter (Onion)