Maritime Security in the Red Sea

American Thinker 

The Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean are vital waterways for the world. With the opening of the Suez Canal, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait became a substantial hub of trade connecting Asia and Europe through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. It is the third busiest strait in the world. Due to Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen, unresolved shipping safety issues remain.

Strange-sounding names of the Middle East are faraway but significant places. It is critical that the United States have defensive military bases there. President Donald Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth must decide where to locate new military bases.

President Jimmy Carter knew that security of the Gulf was vital to the United States. During his administration, Central Command (CENTCOM) established headquarters in Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait, which remain today.

Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar is the largest U.S. Military Base in the Middle East. It headquarters U.S. Central Command, USAF Central Command, No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group RAF, and the 379th Air Force Expeditionary Wing. Qatar Emiri Air Force, United States Air Force, United Kingdom Royal Air Force, and other foreign forces host around 10,000 military personnel.

American military bases in the Middle East have been attacked during the Iran War. Iranian drones wounded Pentagon employees in Bahrain. Americans were wounded in the Iranian missile attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

The Jewish State of Israel is on the list for consideration as host to an American Military Base. There are no official U.S. military bases in Israel. However, a wide range of cooperative exercises, partnerships, and collaborations exist between the countries.

Former Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, recently wrote about the plausibility of American Bases in Israel. He asserts that it would be in America’s fundamental interests, but raises concerns about whether it is right for Israel.

Somaliland is not Somalia. Think North Korea (Somalia) and South Korea (Somaliland). Somaliland has military interest from Israel, China, Turkey, Taiwan, and possibly the United States. In 2026, Somaliland Special Forces trained in Israel. A U.S. delegation from AFRICOM has visited Somaliland monthly for the past year.

Somaliland sits on the Horn of Africa with a line of sight across to the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Gulf of Aden, toward Yemen and the Houthi terrorists. The maritime corridor links the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean. Houthi terrorists attack ships and sometimes threaten to close the shipping corridor.

Israel recognized Somaliland as an independent nation last year. The U.S. Republican Party, Taiwan, and AIPAC welcomed Israel’s recognition of Somaliland. Somaliland accepted adherence to the Abraham Accords and maintains an embassy in Jerusalem.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) mediated discussions between Israel and Somaliland regarding the establishment of an Israeli military base. The UAE has offered to fund the construction. The Republic of Turkey, the People's Republic of China, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the African Union, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Arab League each oppose an Israeli Military base in Somaliland.

Somaliland has existing Infrastructure on the Gulf of Aden. Under Russian control in the 1990s, a 2.6-mile runway was built at the Berbera Airport. It is able to receive heavy transport aircraft, fighter jets, and drone platforms, and new construction is underway. A deepwater commercial port was established in 2017. A naval base is run by the United Arab Emirates. A highway connecting the port and the airport goes to Ethiopia. Speculation that the Berbera Airport is being reconstructed to establish a military base that will accommodate UAE, Israel, and United States strategic forces.

Britain, France, Italy, and Egypt established stations in the Horn of Africa along their routes to India, starting in the mid-1800s. Muslim Arabs, Kenyans, and Persians were mostly pastoral nomads living in the area. Traders dealt in aromatic incense, precious gems, feathers, animal products, and slaves from Ethiopia. Somali Clans, Europeans, and Turks controlled port cities.

Richard Burton (not the famous actor) joined explorers surveying the Horn of Africa. Many surveyors were killed by Somalis. Surveys prevailed. Anglo/French/Italian Treaties were drawn up. Muslim solidarity against infidel protectorates caused uprisings, rebellions, and assassinations.

The United Nations established independence for Eritrea, Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Somalia, and Somaliland in 1960. Civil war between Somalia and Somaliland has been waged since the 1960s, when each country was granted independence from Britain.

Corruption, persecutions, jailings, and torture caused the Somali government to collapse in 1991. Somaliland re-declared independence in 1991. Somali refugees fled to Europe and to the United States. They did not assimilate. 84,000 Somalis live in Minnesota and thousands upon thousands more live in many other states. A U.S. travel ban on Somali “refugees” is in effect. Somali refugee fraud is under investigation with lawsuits and frozen assets. It is believed that stolen fraudulent funds went to Somali-based jihadi terror groups.

Exotic-sounding places like Somaliland, Yemen, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Indian Ocean must not be ignored. Iran’s Houthi terrorists in Yemen have a global effect. Whether or not you can find these places on a world map, vulnerable international maritime waterways are consequential to your life.

Podcast thread for July 12

 

Ugh.

Candace Owens Confirmed To Be A Jewish Plot To Make Antisemites Look Retarded

 Celebs

·Jul 10, 2026 · BabylonBee.com

U.S. — The White House confirmed on Friday what many had long suspected: that podcast host Candace Owens is an elaborate Jewish plot to make antisemites look retarded.

Intelligence intercepted by the Islamic Republic of Iran appeared to show definitively that Owens had been intentionally conjuring up her dumbest ideas just to make hardworking, God-fearing Jew-haters look like idiots.

"Diabolical! I just knew those crafty Jews were up to something!" said War Secretary Pete Hegseth. "Candace Owens has completely undermined the efforts of antisemites to not look like raving lunatics."

According to intelligence officials, Owens receives exactly $7,000 per podcast episode to continue spouting the most unhinged schizophrenic "theories" that can only be corroborated through dreams she makes up.

Meanwhile, as of Friday afternoon, the podcast world had gone into full damage control.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who had previously admitted to being wrong "many times," said, "I can't believe I could have been so wrong about her. I'm never wrong. And as a Christian — as an American most importantly — I can't believe I trusted her. She's really made my good-natured antisemitism look really bad."

Megyn Kelly, however, claimed to have known all along that Candace Owens was pretending to be mentally retarded and had been secretly working behind the scenes to reason with her.

At publishing time, antisemites had asked Owens to dial things back a bit to not make the rest of them look so stupid.

---

Democrats Really Don’t Have Any Idea What a Man Is

Townhall 

It’s a joke I’ve made often: that Democrats don’t know what a woman is when it comes to every aspect of existence…except their dating life; then they are all gynecologists. Of all the pictures of Hunter Biden with seemingly sex-trafficked Eastern European women, none were men playing dress-up. Of all the conquests of Bill Clinton, both voluntary and otherwise, none were “trans” women. This seemed odd considering Democrats have been insisting that “trans women are women” for the better part of a decade.

We, normal people, know they aren’t – toddlers know what having a penis means – but somehow this basic bit of human existence has escaped leftists, or at least they pretend it has.

This led Democrats to face a major issue in attracting male voters. Real men, not liberal men with a “carry all” purse slung over their shoulder on the way to getting their eyebrows threaded; those who shower FROM work, not FOR it.

The left-wing power structure has no idea how to speak with real, blue-collar American men or the women who love them. Democrats have cornered the market of effeminate communists born into wealth who hate their parents and would love nothing more than to take a cheese grater to their skin while doing all they can to “protect” minorities by treating them like infantile pets. Democrats have also cornered the markets of those who used abortion as birth control and now will die alone and be eaten by small dogs, randomly placed tattoos meant to be ironic but actually moronic (so close), face piercing, pink haired women who pretend the inability of the men they drink till they’re “attractive enough” to open a pickle jar is an aphrodisiac.

The Democrat Party’s base is a combination of date rapists and body odor enthusiasts; highly educated virgins and people repeatedly passing sexually transmitted diseases to each other after the penicillin runs out. They’re the kind of people who never got over being justifiably made fun of in high school who have no ability to communicate with people who went on to lead normal lives.

The party knows this, along with the rabid anti-Semitism in “progressive” circles; it’s the reason Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz as a running mate over Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro – they were convinced that Walz could “relate to men.”

They soon learned that it would require a little more than wearing a flannel or pretending to be a hunter to attract normal voters. Aside from all the biographical lies Walz told, and the feminine mannerisms and tampons in the men's room, Tim talked to these people in the same “condescending kindergarten teacher” tone Hillary Clinton did; the way they all do. 

You can’t hide contempt under scripted catchphrases.

Walz was seen through easily by the people he was supposed to appeal to.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom isn’t relatable. While he played sports, he was a rich kid who comes off like every character David Spade ever played in movies in the 90s.

They have no one else. Which is why they thought Democrat U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico could maybe “break through with men” in Texas. He, too, wears a flannel! But he appears to iron it first, which is not what men do. And, after jokes about him being vegan spread too far for comfort, he appeared in more pictures “eating” meat than even the most ardent carnivore diet adherent’s Instagram page has. The only thing is, no one has ever looked less comfortable eating it.

Talarico is the “I have a girlfriend in Canada” candidate who looks like he’d have a larger pile of wet wipes after eating ribs than a pile of bones. Even trans kids in Texas are uncomfortable by how much he talks about them.

But they thought they finally had their male savior in Maine in “oyster farmer” and “veteran” Graham Platner. He has a beard and wears graphic T-shirts under his flannels! He also turned out to be a rich kid living off his parents who hates rich people, a momma’s boy with a drinking problem who used his time in the military more as a shield from responsibility than perhaps anyone else in history. He’s the only combat veteran I’ve known of who blames everything he’s done wrong on a “dark time” in his life that he never defines or assigns a starting or ending date. Most veterans I know view his abuse of his service for such purposes as disgusting.

But nothing was as disgusting as the way he treated women. Abusive, assaults, cheating, you name it, and he’s been accused of it. He denied everything without really denying anything specific. “Dark time” was all there was, while insisting he’s spoken more about his shortcomings than anyone ever.

Real men don’t assault women; real men are compelled to protect women. Not just their wives, mothers, sisters and daughters, but women everywhere. Real men step up when women are harassed in front of them; Democrat men take out their phones and record it for engagement and follows.

Platner is now gone; the only time in his entire life that he will matter has passed, but the lessons from his embarrassing candidacy will remain unlearned by the left, just like all the others. You can’t appeal to people you hold in contempt; you can’t win over people you wish to subjugate, and you can’t appeal to normal men and women if you have no idea what the word “normal” means.

Personally, I’m glad you failed and hope you keep failing because you’re horrible, awful, and evil people seeking to do real harm to this country and its people. I do, however, have a morbid curiosity about what sort of mutant weirdo you’ll come up with next in your pursuit of appealing to normal blue-collar Americans. And I’ll laugh hysterically at whatever it is, knowing full well it won’t be somber self-reflection over the left-wing communistic policies you’ve allowed pollsters and living in a bubble to convince you are popular. It couldn’t happen to nicer, more deserving people.

🎭 𝐖𝟑𝐏 𝓓𝓐𝓘𝓛𝓨 𝓗𝓾𝓶𝓸𝓻, 𝓜𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓬, 𝓐𝓻𝓽, 𝓞𝓟𝓔𝓝 𝓣𝓗𝓡𝓔𝓐𝓓

 

Welcome to 

The 𝐖𝟑𝐏 𝓓𝓐𝓘𝓛𝓨 𝓗𝓾𝓶𝓸𝓻, 𝓜𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓬, 𝓐𝓻𝓽, 𝓞𝓟𝓔𝓝 𝓣𝓗𝓡𝓔𝓐𝓓 

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No politics or divisive posts on this thread. 

This feature will appear every day at 1pm mountain time. 

Promethean PAC Visits Trump Policy Contrast Against Energy Priorities

Barbara Boyd argues Trump is pursuing peace talks with Iran while warning the ceasefire is over and the U.S. will respond with crushing force if Iran interferes in the Strait of Hormuz. She says media claims that Trump is a warmonger are false, citing Trump’s regional “Board of Peace,” Iran’s long-term proxy war through Hamas and Hezbollah, and Iran’s uranium enrichment and nuclear ambitions.

The script describes U.S. strikes—Operation Midnight Hammer (2025) and Operation Epic Fury (Feb. 2026)—and claims these actions weakened Iran, shifted Gulf states against Tehran, enabled changes in Gaza and Lebanon, and collapsed Iran’s economy, leaving Hormuz harassment as its main lever. Boyd frames the conflict as part of a broader struggle against a London-centered “petrodollar” energy order and Net Zero policies, highlighting Trump’s energy expansion, economic metrics, and new nuclear and fusion initiatives as the future economic strategy.  WATCH:

Ro Khanna Was Detained by Israeli Settlers... and He Reacted as You'd Expect

Townhall 

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) plans to capitalize on this incident: he was detained by armed settlers in the West Bank, and a New York Times reporter was there to document it all. Of course, he had a meltdown, but sir, you’re a congressman—take it a few notches down. This isn’t as if the US Ambassador or the vice president was detained, so take a chill pill. Second, why were you there? Yes, Khanna is mulling a presidential run, but my brother in Christ, I think there’s a little deflection going on here, and it involves Graham Platner (via NYT):

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Khanna, the congressman from Silicon Valley who is exploring a 2028 presidential run, was visiting the ruins of Khirbet Zanuta, a tiny Palestinian Bedouin village in the southern West Bank that was abandoned after escalating attacks from settlers and then demolished.

Suddenly, a car of men holding guns pulled up and blocked the narrow road out of the village. The men began taunting the congressman and his team, swearing at them in Hebrew and Arabic and kicking the tires of their minibus, according to accounts, photographs and video footage from Mr. Khanna, an aide and his security guard. A photographer for The New York Times traveling in a different vehicle also saw the interaction. Soon, a Jeep with more men arrived.

When two cars from the Israeli military pulled up, Mr. Khanna assumed the soldiers were there to help him pass. Instead, the soldiers smoked cigarettes, chatted with the men and after the settlers left, moved a car to block the road, he recounted.

“I felt powerless in that situation, which is not an easy thing, as I have a lot of privilege in life,” said Mr. Khanna, who was eventually allowed to continue his journey after calls to the U.S. embassy and Israeli police. “Imagine how people feel every day, Palestinians under the occupation, if they could make an American congressperson feel powerless for 90 minutes.”

[…]

In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the Israeli military said that it had received a report of Israeli civilians unlawfully blocking the vehicles of foreign nationals and members of the news media near the village on Wednesday. Troops were dispatched and reopened the road, the spokesperson said. The military disputed that its soldiers had participated in blocking the exit and said that the identity of the armed civilian was being reviewed.

At a time when Israel is hemorrhaging support among Americans and particularly among Democrats, a tour of the West Bank is a new way for progressive politicians to signal their concern.

For decades, potential presidential aspirants made pilgrimages to Israel in hopes of burnishing their foreign policy credentials. Their trips followed a familiar itinerary: meetings with Israeli political leaders, sightseeing at the Western Wall, a tour of an Israel city damaged by Palestinian rocket fire and visits with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah, a city in the West Bank. The goal was to demonstrate their commitment to the United States’ special relationship with a longtime ally.

[…]

“In Palestine, I felt first as someone who was brown,” he said. “We really saw the apartheidlike conditions, the inequality.”

He added: “No American would support this if they knew the details of what was going on here.”

First, no, Khanna, we’d still support Israel because we’re not idiots like you. Arab-Israelis have voting rights, can be elected president or prime minister, and face no barriers to job opportunities. If you must use the word apartheid, understand its meaning—black South Africans under that system had no rights that are guaranteed to all Israeli citizens. Second, and it’s not like you didn’t know this, but this was prime content to gin up more hate against Israel from the progressive Left.

I’m not going to discount anything, but please—I’m just rolling my eyes at this whole circus. 

DHS Creates 'Deportation Airline' to Carry-Out 24/7 Deportation Flights

Townhall 

Under the leadership of President Donald Trump and Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the Department of Homeland Security will launch a new “deportation airline” in order to carry out deportation flights on a round-the-clock basis.

In order to carry out the monumental task of mass deportations, DHS has procured a fleet of two Gulfstream 550s and six Boeing 737-700s at the cost of $140 million. The government fleet will allow for DHS to have autonomy in carrying out their own deportation logistics rather than having to rely on chartered flight with independent contractors.

The news of the new fleet comes as ICE has surged their arrest and deportation operations. At the beginning of July, a new report showed that the agency had managed to arrest more than 10,000 illegal aliens in just a five day period. Those arrests came on the heels of a record for deportation flights as well, with nearly 300 individual flights taking off in the span of a single month.

The Trump administration’s dedication to carrying out their mass deportation agenda has allowed the United States to achieve net-negative immigration for the first time in 50 years.

Turkey Gave NATO Leaders Handguns as Gifts – EU Leaders Don’t Know What to Do

Personally, I believe Turkish President Recep Erdogan knew exactly what would happen when he gave all the NATO leaders a “Magnum” .357 handgun at the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey.  What happened next is exactly the reason he did it.

President Trump brings Erdogan’s gift back to the White House, with a casual ‘cool gun’ nonchalant approach.  Meanwhile, back in Europe, the apoplectic recipients, administrators’, various office bureaucracies and support staff that surround each NATO politician are physically and mentally stuck, not knowing what to do.

I have read many of the media reports, and they are incredibly funny -and sad- but mostly funny {SEE HERE}.

The general response is that President Erdogan has just handed the NATO leaders something akin to an unstable, portable nuclear device.  Most of the European’s won’t even touch the custom case that accompanies the handgun, let alone actually touch the alarmingly scary pistol itself.

THE MESSAGE – AGAINST THE BACKDROP: How is NATO going to “defend itself” if they cannot even receive, handle or carry a firearm?  A poignant and not-s0-subtle message that is more than a little funny; in a typically Turkish manner of irony.

The main NATO request in Turkey was for U.S. patriot missiles. {CITATION} Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union commission president, thanked Erdogan for the gift, which will be decommissioned and donated to a military museum, her spokesperson said. […] “It struck me that ⁠my gift of maple syrup kind of undermatched,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters, adding that the firearm was now in police possession. “I would like to reassure Canadians, they keep guns away from me.” {CITATION}

Sometimes life makes you feel like you are sitting alone, looking at the geopolitical world – and no one can see the absurdity of it all.  We need advanced weapons to protect ourselves against the horrible Russians, NATO proclaimed.

Meanwhile, “The Belgian prime minister, Bart De Wever, only “learned of the exact nature of the gift” after landing in Belgium. “The prime minister was surprised and immediately handed it over to airport police so it could be placed in a secure safe and the matter was handled in accordance with relevant procedures,” an official said on Thursday.”

Several revolvers, including those belonging to Starmer, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the Dutch prime minister, Rob Jetten, have for now remained in the Turkish capital.  Depending on the laws in force, transporting firearms is often far from straightforward, especially when they are fully functional. {source}

The Magnum styled .357 revolvers came with six bullets.  “Beyond the logistical challenge, the gift also puzzled several delegations attending the summit.” … “The question asked over and over again: why such a gift?” … “The Turkish presidency did not immediately respond.”

Von der Leyen “expressed her thanks” to Erdoğan for the gift, her spokesperson said, adding that it would be decommissioned and donated to a military museum.

These same NATO leaders are asking President Trump for advanced Patriot Missiles.

Perhaps I’m the only one who can see the point Erdogan is making.

European NATO leaders dislike Recep Erdogan immensely.

For many years I have outlined Erdogan’s duplicity; quite simply – I am not a fan, yet you cannot deny the respect he has created against his adversaries within his position as the world’s most powerful gatekeeper for the future of Europe.

Europe says Erdogan cannot be trusted with American F-35 technology.

Europe asks President Trump for advanced patriot missiles.

Erdogan gives European leaders handguns.

European leaders and every layer of their bureaucratic staff are frozen.

Well played.