From what I've been able to gather, the Israeli strike didn't hit just the tank farm at the port. They reportedly hit the refinery that supplied the tank farm, and there is video of them hitting the container cranes in the port too. Reportedly this port is the primary port facility for the Houthis, and their largest...possibly only...source of export trade money. This strike represents a huge economic hit to the Houthis, and dries up a lot of the money they use to purchase weapons. In a single strike, Israel has set the Houthis back significantly and seriously impaired their military capabilities.
The US could easily have made such a strike months ago if the political resolve had been there to actually shut down the Houthis.
I understand they also hit some electrical generation equipment but I can’t find much detail on it. I believe the US decided against this strike because most of the humanitarian aid comes in through this port. Israel had no such qualms. Once you attack and kill civilians then the price you pay goes up.
I would argue that the Houthis are a state actor equivalent more or less to the state of Yemen. It's just politically more convenient to say we are at war with the Houthis than with Yemen.
Hamas/Gaza pre-October 7 is similar though not identical.
* also, even if you consider the Houthis to be non-state, they were acting as the direct arm of a state actor (Iran). There are probably historical analogies of non-state actors with capabilities that would have been out of their reach had they not been directly provided to them by a sponsor state (maybe the Mujahideen in Afghanistan? This is out of my expertise).
Not sure why the Houthi's thought for a second that Israel wouldn't retaliate and that being proportionate in their response isn't exactly their thing.
Those lubricants I assume have more value than plain refined such as gasoline due to all the additives. I’m curious if the upgrading happened locally (I mean is there a local factory that manufactures those lubricants), and was that factory Iranian owned and was it damaged? Were the docks and cranes damaged? Will this slow off loading and loading of weapons?
The petroleum products are considered to be the only significant export product of Houthi Yemen, and losing the port facilities and the refinery that supplies them, is a major financial hit to the Houthis. The relied on the money from those exports to purchase weapons for their ongoing fight against both the West and Yemen itself.
Point of note Israel’s reporting that they did detect the Yemen missile coming in, but due to the human error the air raid siren didn’t sound. To be clear it seemed they were only talking about the air raid sirens. It seems obvious that NO ONE detected it all the distance to ITS TARGET.
Guess you haven’t kept up on his YouTube videos… he ponder about how to bring in more than two cigars but realized, since he’s going to a law enforcement conference, he’d better not break the law one the way..:
Hi Ryan, Mexican cartel might have been the first group to use drones to engage their enemies as well as to smuggle things into the US.
A quick search online will show news reports of drones being used by cartel to target their rivals, going back over 6 years ago. Several years before the Ukraine war. Also you can find drone smuggling activity going back over a decade.
It's been known here in AZ that they used drones to move products across the border. We haven't seen it as much over the last three years, since simply muling it across is too simple and cheap to beat. As the carrying capacity and range of drones continues to increase I would expect to see that sort of smuggling to rise, especially if the next President decides to re-close the border.
You get currency at the airport at a counter? That is usually the most expensive way ... terrible exchange rates and fees. If you have a Visa or Mastercard DEBIT card to to nearest ATM and some local money it ... much better rate and even if there is a local ATM fee, it is usually better than the counter. Since it varies widely, it is recommendable to research this on the travel sites before the trip.
I would say on this topic Plummer is indeed a subject matter expert and any inaccuracies would be the result of limited public information about the Crowdstrike Falcon driver. Even if a detail were to be wrong (i.e. about how the driver downloads and executes an intermediate code), his overall description is on the money.
If I were to nitpick it is that Plummer uses outdated terminology, perhaps not a surprise given he is retired. But we all do that. My brain often goes to terminology we used at DEC in the 1970s through Microsoft in the 90s rather than the current preferred terms. So it really is a nit to call out Plummer for doing the same.
BTW, this is an example of why Apple doesn't allow apps in the app store that do exactly what Falcon is reported to do. They can't validate the app is following the app store rules if it can download and execute code, bypassing their testing process. Microsoft's antitrust problems from the 90s, and their settlements, limits how much Microsoft can do to prevent the installation of valid but potentially harmful software on Windows.
From what I've been able to gather, the Israeli strike didn't hit just the tank farm at the port. They reportedly hit the refinery that supplied the tank farm, and there is video of them hitting the container cranes in the port too. Reportedly this port is the primary port facility for the Houthis, and their largest...possibly only...source of export trade money. This strike represents a huge economic hit to the Houthis, and dries up a lot of the money they use to purchase weapons. In a single strike, Israel has set the Houthis back significantly and seriously impaired their military capabilities.
The US could easily have made such a strike months ago if the political resolve had been there to actually shut down the Houthis.
I understand they also hit some electrical generation equipment but I can’t find much detail on it. I believe the US decided against this strike because most of the humanitarian aid comes in through this port. Israel had no such qualms. Once you attack and kill civilians then the price you pay goes up.
We still try too hard to be nice to people who don't understand or deserve "nice."
100% agree. You don’t deter by surgical strikes but by making them fear what you will do. The Houthis will never like us so don’t worry about that.
SUPER INFORMATIVE. TRUMP NEEDS YOU AS A MILITARY ADVISOR.
I THINK YOU FORGOT TO TOGGLE OFF CAPS LOCK. HERE'S A GUIDE FOR YOU: https://www.wikihow.com/Turn-Off-Caps-Lock
Always happy to listen and learn from you.
A nit of a nitpick: when did petroleum, oil, lubricants go from ‘P-O-L’ to “pol”?
I would argue that the Houthis are a state actor equivalent more or less to the state of Yemen. It's just politically more convenient to say we are at war with the Houthis than with Yemen.
Hamas/Gaza pre-October 7 is similar though not identical.
* also, even if you consider the Houthis to be non-state, they were acting as the direct arm of a state actor (Iran). There are probably historical analogies of non-state actors with capabilities that would have been out of their reach had they not been directly provided to them by a sponsor state (maybe the Mujahideen in Afghanistan? This is out of my expertise).
Not sure why the Houthi's thought for a second that Israel wouldn't retaliate and that being proportionate in their response isn't exactly their thing.
Those lubricants I assume have more value than plain refined such as gasoline due to all the additives. I’m curious if the upgrading happened locally (I mean is there a local factory that manufactures those lubricants), and was that factory Iranian owned and was it damaged? Were the docks and cranes damaged? Will this slow off loading and loading of weapons?
The petroleum products are considered to be the only significant export product of Houthi Yemen, and losing the port facilities and the refinery that supplies them, is a major financial hit to the Houthis. The relied on the money from those exports to purchase weapons for their ongoing fight against both the West and Yemen itself.
I’m sure thousands of American college kids will donate money to Yemen.
Miss-information in postings on X, I never would have guessed. 🤪
I'm so sorry YT demonetized your video again, but thank you so much for sharing it with us.
Point of note Israel’s reporting that they did detect the Yemen missile coming in, but due to the human error the air raid siren didn’t sound. To be clear it seemed they were only talking about the air raid sirens. It seems obvious that NO ONE detected it all the distance to ITS TARGET.
They detected it but misclassified it as not a threat.
Wait... you're in AU and didn't announce it before hand!?
Are you doing subscriber meetup beers (whiskeys)?
Guess you haven’t kept up on his YouTube videos… he ponder about how to bring in more than two cigars but realized, since he’s going to a law enforcement conference, he’d better not break the law one the way..:
Hi Ryan, Mexican cartel might have been the first group to use drones to engage their enemies as well as to smuggle things into the US.
A quick search online will show news reports of drones being used by cartel to target their rivals, going back over 6 years ago. Several years before the Ukraine war. Also you can find drone smuggling activity going back over a decade.
It's been known here in AZ that they used drones to move products across the border. We haven't seen it as much over the last three years, since simply muling it across is too simple and cheap to beat. As the carrying capacity and range of drones continues to increase I would expect to see that sort of smuggling to rise, especially if the next President decides to re-close the border.
I hope you have some fun at the Gold Coast Ryan. Oh and don't forget to check out the- hmm, nevermind. You'll know when you see it ;)
You get currency at the airport at a counter? That is usually the most expensive way ... terrible exchange rates and fees. If you have a Visa or Mastercard DEBIT card to to nearest ATM and some local money it ... much better rate and even if there is a local ATM fee, it is usually better than the counter. Since it varies widely, it is recommendable to research this on the travel sites before the trip.
Thank you for insightful update. Great knowledge, Ryan.
A bit of a nitpick Dave Plummer is not the most reputable source of information. Take a look at what happened with him and his company in 2006
I would say on this topic Plummer is indeed a subject matter expert and any inaccuracies would be the result of limited public information about the Crowdstrike Falcon driver. Even if a detail were to be wrong (i.e. about how the driver downloads and executes an intermediate code), his overall description is on the money.
If I were to nitpick it is that Plummer uses outdated terminology, perhaps not a surprise given he is retired. But we all do that. My brain often goes to terminology we used at DEC in the 1970s through Microsoft in the 90s rather than the current preferred terms. So it really is a nit to call out Plummer for doing the same.
BTW, this is an example of why Apple doesn't allow apps in the app store that do exactly what Falcon is reported to do. They can't validate the app is following the app store rules if it can download and execute code, bypassing their testing process. Microsoft's antitrust problems from the 90s, and their settlements, limits how much Microsoft can do to prevent the installation of valid but potentially harmful software on Windows.
I agree the tech analysis here is on point.