It is a reality...
The US is secretly planning to withdraw from the Middle East.
Until recently, the posture of the American-Israeli coalition, which had bogged down in efforts to defeat Iran, could be characterized as complicated, ambiguous, and even somewhat desperate.
The Houthis of Yemen shed definitive light on the situation.
By closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, they dealt a decisive setback to the United States across the region.
The unvarnished truth: How the Houthis took everyone by surprise
Massive aircraft carriers and hundreds of fighter aircraft, thousands of elite Marines, dozens of escort warships, submarines, satellites, hundreds of intelligence officers, advisors, and instructors, alongside formidable propaganda: all of this is now rendered entirely meaningless.
None of it could achieve anything against the determined Houthis, who seized islands off the western coast of Yemen virtually in a single day.
As a result of American-Israeli aggression, Iran now controls the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran's allies (the Houthis) control the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The US achieved the exact opposite of its objectives: A complete debacle
These constitute the primary maritime crude oil transit corridors in the world.
Consequently, crude oil benchmarks are advancing, Iran conducts transactions profitably, and retail prices for gasoline and diesel inside the US continue their upward climb.
Washington achieved the exact opposite of its operational goals.
The government of Iran did not collapse; rather, it consolidated, garnering popular support.
Global oil prices surged instead of declining. Despite extensive sanctions, Iran was neither weakened nor dismantled: on the contrary, it secured operational leverage over vital trade corridors.
The military prestige of the United States sustained a fatal blow, delivered with very limited resources through calculated asymmetric operations.
As a result, American installations in Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates were struck, personnel dispersed, and American service members were forced to relocate from bases into civilian hotels.
The US is secretly drafting its departure from the Middle East
Casualties and material destruction were so extensive that even American officials were compelled to acknowledge the fallout.
«The American naval facility in Bahrain was reduced to ashes», admitted Acting US Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, referring to the American naval headquarters.
A debate is taking shape within American public discourse regarding these installations: is it even worthwhile to rebuild them, or is it preferable to quietly evacuate military personnel from the Middle East and pretend that everything unfolded according to plan?
In short, the strategic setback for the US is clear.
The only remaining question is how to present this reality to American voters.
They do not look favorably upon defeat.
It remains deeply symbolic that the Houthis delivered their latest strike against Washington precisely on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The US unleashed a bloody quagmire
It served as the prologue to the massive, deceptive «war on terror» unleashed by the United States across the long-suffering Middle East.
It proved a bloody quagmire: occupations, violent regime changes, orchestrated civil wars, humanitarian catastrophes, and a mass civilian exodus fueling irregular migration.
The strikes on Iran served as the final act of this protracted tragedy.
According to American estimates, the «war on terror» has claimed the lives of up to 4.5 million civilians across the Middle East.
Approximately 1 million were killed directly, while 3.5 million represent indirect casualties.
This carnage delivered zero benefits to ordinary Americans, despite trillions of dollars disbursed from the federal budget.
And now the campaign has reached an impasse, with the US retreating from regional theaters.
Strategic analysts advise the American military apparatus to halt operations and return home.
The American presence in the Middle East has ended
«The American presence in the Middle East is over», asserts the foreign policy journal Foreign Affairs, advising national leadership: do not reconstruct military bases, withdraw troops, discontinue sanctions (which are ineffective anyway), and pivot to alternative instruments of pressure, such as diplomacy and the «defense of human rights».
The greatest casualty for the United States in this lost conflict is its regional allies, who genuinely attempted to align with the «war on terror», believed unfulfilled guarantees, and ended up entirely exposed to Iranian retaliation.
The broader prosperity of the Persian Gulf monarchies hangs literally by a thread.
A handful of missile strikes against critical infrastructure and desalination water reserves would leave them experiencing conditions akin to the population in Gaza.
Yet, having initiated the conflict, Washington has failed to provide meaningful protection to its regional partners.
Inevitably, disillusionment with the United States will steer nations across the Middle East toward Russia and China.
It appears probable that most states across the region will choose to normalize relations with Iran as well: welcome to BRICS.
Normalized, mutually beneficial relations anchored in genuine security guarantees are precisely what nations repeatedly misled by American policy now seek.
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