Iran isn’t just Iran & Is WWIII in the Offing? - Top 3 Takeaways – October 25th, 2023
- Iran isn’t just Iran. The thought of World War III doesn’t exactly give you the warm and fuzzies but the news emanating from around the world day after day during the Israel-Hamas war increasingly sounds like there’s a possibility we’re trending there. And that’s in large part because of the war that’s already been waged for nearly two years in Ukraine but most of all what I’ve warned of for years. As you’ve likely heard me say before...China isn’t just China and Russia isn’t just Russia. China is Russia, is Iran, is North Korea, is Cuba, is Venezuela, is Nicaragua. They’re all bad actors aligned with a common mission of knocking the United States and our allies out of world superpower status. While each of those countries have their own objectives, their alliance presents the threat that any conflict one of those countries engages in could become one they’re all involved in. Moreover, escalating conflicts around the world could all be part of their collective plan. It was March 22nd that I brought you this in that day’s takeaways: Putting bad and worse together doesn’t equal better. The biggest thing going on in the world right now is whatever the heck happened in Moscow over the past couple of days. Not only did the two-day summit start with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin stating they were “dear friends”, which for even the woefully uniformed should still be enough tell you that trouble is brewing. Be mindful, the only “news” we hear coming out of the summit is what the state-controlled media apparatuses in both countries chose to reveal. But when what they choose to reveal is alarming, you can only imagine what really must have been discussed. The real story started with the “friendship” but continued with...A few keys. Those keys... In day one it was reported that both leaders stated there were “no limits” to their partnership. On (the 2nd) it’s said Xi promised to “boost coordination” with Russia as they signed a “no economic limits” partnership. And the talks ended with a report that Xi has invited Putin to China to explore Russian expansion opportunities within the country – as Putin has said Russian companies stand to replace the role many western companies have held within the country. Now, in the grand scheme of things do I care if Russian S-boxes are on the roads in place of Fords? Not at all. In fact, I’m far more inclined to have issues with every American company which has sold out to the Chinese. But the more important question is to ask what really happened behind closed doors and where all of this is going. For years I’ve consistently pointed out that China isn’t just China, that’s it’s Russia, Iran, North Korea (with Little Rocket Man), it’s Cuba, it’s Venezuela and Nicaragua. All of these bad actors align together and are continuing to consolidate together. Putting bad and worse together doesn’t equal better. Just look at Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. As for where this looks like it’s going... A) China has first and potentially exclusive access to Russian energy and grain B) China funds Russia’s economy through asset purchases C) Russian companies expand within China providing additional economic opportunity for the country beyond natural resources and agriculture. D) China decouples from US interests. I’ll pick up on that last one. What’s China been aggressively doing for the past year on the investment side? Selling US Treasury bonds. What have they been buying? Gold. They’ve been doing it while they’ve been aligned with Russia in their war with Ukraine. They’ve been doing it while they’ve been engaged in military provocation over Taiwan. And now they have their “limitless” economic partnership with Russia. Now all of what’s happened could be a coincidence, or it could be that China’s in the final stages of preparing for what they will do next which would likely be to move militarily on Taiwan. Now, that was back in March - what just happened this past weekend? Quoting a Reuters headline: In northeast China, Russian and Chinese firms ink deals from manufacturing to agriculture. So, what was discussed in March...
- Has now been made a reality. This also is on the back of China having also directly contracted with Saudi Arabia for additional oil supplies – leading Saudi Arabia to appear to be increasingly aligned with the Chinese alliance. This is consistent with Saudi Arabia’s just announced decision to back away from a normalized relationship with Israel which was brokered as part of the Abraham Accords negotiated by former President Donald Trump. Two weeks ago, National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said: that there was no evidence Iran helped plan the Hamas attack. On Monday he articulated a 180 saying: We know Iran continues to support Hamas and Hezbollah. And we know that Iran is closely monitoring these events and, in some cases, actively facilitating these attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit the conflict for their own good or for that of Iran. Now, we’ve also seen, over the course of the last few days — actually, the course of the last week, but certainly over the last couple of days of the weekend — an uptick in rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups against military bases housing U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria.
- And we’re deeply concerned about the potential for any significant escalation of these attacks in the days ahead. There was no word about the original denialism, regardless, here we are with Iran not only backing the Hamas terrorists against Israel but also other terrorist organizations in other countries against Americans. And that’s happening at the same time Saudi Arabia has backed out of normalized relations with Israel. And that’s happening at the same time China and Russia have finalized their strategic partnership. And that’s happening at the same time that Russia’s still at war with Ukraine. And that’s happening at the same time that China’s threatening Taiwan's sovereignty. And that’s happening at the same time China has stepped up its direct provocation with the US by harassing our forces in the Pacific. And that’s come at a time in which Chinese forces blocked and collided with two Pilipino military vessels in the South China Sea which prompted US officials to state that the US will defend the Philippines against China which is necessary under a 1951 treaty. There’s an awful lot that’s happening in an awful lot of places around the world with new Axis powers. Iran isn’t just Iran, and the current hostility extends far beyond what makes the news day in and day out in this country. The next 14 months are bound to be a wild ride. Here’s to hoping the world can hang in there until we have a real president projecting real leadership on the world stage. In the meantime – it's imperative that Israel’s allowed by the United States to do what they need to do decisively and quickly. That would project strength.