Running on Empty

The US has run out of missiles. There's plenty of dumb bombs, but you have to fly over to deliver them. That explains the lack of US response to Iran striking ships in the Strait. Also the US strategic petroleum reserves are close to empty which threatens the stability of the salt caverns where the fuel is stored. The US also lacks a plan or strategy in either war, Iran and Ukraine. However, there's no lack of news and stories and we'll touch on several below the fold...

Chris makes my point in the first few minutes of this interview...
Why the Iran War Won’t End Soon (w/ Alastair Crooke)

(54 min) Trump's reckless war on Iran is threatening global economic collapse — as the region breaks out into a matrix of conflagrations, Trump seemingly has no way out.

There's been a lot of talk this week about the use of nuclear weapons in our desperation over our lack of missiles. We can't seem to admit we've been out gunned and have lost our war of choice with Iran in the same way Ukraine seems incapable of admitting their (our) loss to Russia. However, reality has the last word and sooner or later the US will have to face up to these losses.

In the near term we'll start feeling the economic consequences of our endless wars. Supply lines are already disrupted, and like you, I'm seeing empty spots on shelves in a variety of stores and shops.

The disillusioned Trump supporters, MTG, Tucker, Massie, and Joe Kent are promoting the idea of a new party.
Tucker's 10-Point Plan To Counter Trump's Betrayals

(4.5 min)
The the point plan

1. Fair: The same rules should apply to presidents, federal agents and elites such as Jeffrey Epstein, whose impunity Carlson cast as emblematic of an "Epstein class" enriching itself through a corrupt system.
2. Sovereign: Carlson claimed Israel pushed the U.S. into the Iran war through "bribery or threat or both," while describing foreign lobbying, corporate control of government and high-interest debt as forms of "slavery."
3. Productive: America should rebuild farming, manufacturing and craftsmanship while rejecting an economy dominated by finance, real estate speculation, surveillance systems and weapons.
4. Beautiful: Carlson alleged that urban planners deliberately "uglified" American cities, and portrayed brutalist architecture, graffiti, public drug use and violent crime as deliberate attacks on the public.
5. Healthy: Carlson embraced RFK Jr.'s food agenda, called for universal sobriety and said widespread use of drugs such as Xanax, Adderall and SSRIs had left Americans "half-addled."
6. Honest: Government officials should be punished for lying to citizens, and most classified records — including on the JFK assassination and 9/11 — should be opened.
7. Optimistic: Carlson argued that having children is a biological imperative and the foundation of long-term thinking, while blaming aging and childless elites for policies that disregard future generations.
8. Wise: Schools should teach how the physical world actually works and what he called unchanging facts about human nature — including innate differences between men and women — rather than credentials, screens and technological fads.
9. Decent: The U.S. should apologize and pay restitution for killing noncombatants, reverse Trump's "Department of War" rebrand and stop funding allies that commit what Carlson called genocide, citing Israel.
10. United: Carlson called for halting immigration until the effects of AI become clearer, ending benefits for undocumented immigrants and making English the sole language of federal documents and ballots.

The big picture: Carlson has become the intellectual hub for a small but vocal faction of MAGA exiles who say Trump abandoned the "America First" agenda by launching the Iran war, mishandling the Epstein files and allowing Israel to exert too much influence over U.S. policy.

Pro-Palestinian candidates seem to be winning. The Zionist are doing their best to codify in law fidelity to Israel before the tidal wave of disillusion and disgust wash over the nation.
Palestinian American Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan Democratic Senate primary, will be 1st Muslim to be US Senate if elected
El-Sayed will now face Republican Mike Rogers in the November general election, a race that is expected to play a crucial role in Democrats' efforts to regain control of the U.S. Senate.

Rogers is a warmonger and Zionist. Can Abdul take him out?

Talk about stupid...
Senate passes sweeping Russia sanctions bill negotiated by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham
Just wait till these ridiculous sanctions backfire on the US. What can I say, stupid is as stupid does. We the US citizens will pay the price, and our economy will suffer.

There's big changes afoot here and in Western Asia.
Türkiye and Saudi Arabia seek Pakistani Nuclear Umbrella against Israel
The new Mecca Defense Pact signed by Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signals a regional response to the new insecurity in the region provoked by the Israeli-US attack on Iran and by the Iranian response. The Iranian response has been to hold the Gulf Arab oil and gas states hostage. But the initial Israeli-US attack on February 28 was also seen as a profound betrayal of these states’ security by the Trump administration, since it was foreseeable that an all-out assault on Iran would roil the Strait of Hormuz.
The tripartite alliance brings enormous strengths to the table. Saudi Arabia has trillions of dollars in reserves and its sovereign investment fund. Al Jazeera points out that Türkiye has an advanced defense industry. Pakistan has a big, experienced military with lots of operational experience. Saudi Arabia wants to expand its arms industry. Al Jazeera does not add that Islamabad has a nuclear arsenal and an advanced fighter jet manufacturing capability (joint with China) of its own.

Here's the Middle East Eye account.
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign defence pact
The 'first in kind' agreement includes a mutual defence clause, official says

Pepe EXPOSES MECCA PACT SIGNED — HORMUZ IS THE REAL STORY What They're Not Telling You

(40 min) BREAKING: Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement today, August 7, 2026 — a NATO-style mutual-defense pact — on the same day Iran and Oman entered the final approval stage of a deal that could hand Tehran control of the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint for roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil. Pepe Escobar joins Transition Protocol to break down what is confirmed, what is still developing, and what remains completely unverified in the biggest West Asia realignment since the war began.
This episode goes line by line through the Mecca pact’s Article-5-style collective defense clause, the emerging Iran-Oman Hormuz shipping arrangement, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s fall to a 1983-era low, and the open questions about Yemen, Egypt’s absence from the pact, and Pakistan’s expanding role as regional mediator — including a source-based (unconfirmed) report on Iran’s parliament speaker Ghalibaf’s expected visit to Islamabad.
Analysis by Pepe Escobar, veteran geopolitical correspondent and author, with additional sourced briefing from host Zulfiqar Ali

Chas also discusses the new Mecca agreement.

(52 min) Chas Freeman: BREAKING: Saudi, Pakistan, Turkiye Just Signed a Joint Defense Pact

Alex thinks the new pact was US approved.

Article 5 Targets Iran as US Searches For Off-Ramp. Zelensky's Comeback Ends in Vucic Arms
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:31 Saturday update from Athens
00:01:16 Article 5 comes to the Middle East
00:02:04 New pact aims to contain Iran
00:04:52 A US backed regional realignment
00:06:55 Turkey, Iran and the regime change playbook
00:09:03 Comparing this to NATO, Russia and Article 5
00:11:17 Will Iran test this new alliance
00:12:24 CNN says the Iran conflict is widening
00:14:08 General Caine hunts for an Iran off ramp
00:16:26 Ground troops the only real path to victory
00:19:07 Senate passes Lindsey Graham's Russia sanctions bill
00:23:24 What the bone crushing sanctions actually do
00:24:37 The end of Putin's maximum restraint doctrine
00:26:10 The Atlantic on Zelensky's short lived comeback
00:29:07 EU diplomat admits Ukraine cannot join the EU
00:34:37 Iceland to vote on restarting EU talks
00:38:15 Zelensky meets Vucic in Belgrade
00:41:40 Poll shows Zelensky would lose any election
00:44:59 FIFA president Infantino hit with new scandal

The two Larry's discuss the coming changes that must be faced...

(57 min) Larry Johnson & Col. Larry Wilkerson: The Old Middle East Is DEAD
A comment from under the clip...
Iran wasn't responsible for 9/11. Iran didn't attack the USS Liberty. Iran wasn't responsible for the King David Hotel bombing. Iran hasn't co-opted 98% of our national legislators. Iran isn't the one pushing immigration to western nations. Iran wasn't running Epstein. Iran isn't pushing the woke agenda in the US. Iran isn't running Hollywood. Iran doesn't control the porn industry. Iran doesn't control most of our media. Iran didn't engineer the imposition of the "Federal" reserve. Iran doesn't allow usury. Iran didn't sell our military secrets to China. Jonathan Pollard wan't spying for Iran. Iran didn't help lie us into the Iraq war. Iran did not assassinate Folke Bernadotte, Charlie Kirk and JFK, and had nothing to do with the Twin Towers or building 7. Iran didn't murder Hind Rajab and her family. Iran didn't kill Rachel Corrie or American journalists. Iran wasn't involved in the Lavon Affair. Iran wasn't involved in the Numec / Apollo Affair.

More from Larry Johnson
CENTCOM Stands Down as Hormuz Deal Nears,Islamic NATO Signed & Iran Never Mentioned

(30 min)
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have signed a NATO-style mutual defence pact in Mecca, and Iran’s terms for the Strait of Hormuz have not moved an inch. Larry Johnson says the American war machine has already stepped back: CENTCOM’s intelligence crisis cell has been deactivated, and the missiles needed to restart the fight cannot be rebuilt in under four years.
In today’s programme, former CIA and State Department counterterrorism official Larry Johnson tells Dr. Zulfiqar Ali that the Crisis Action Team at CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa — the round-the-clock cell that runs active military operations — has been stood down. He explains why the United States has not retaliated for repeated attacks on shipping, despite the President’s pledge to strike Iranian infrastructure for every vessel hit; why 78% of advanced US munitions depend on five rare-earth minerals China is not exporting; and why he believes today’s Mecca Joint Deterrence Agreement is a message to Israel rather than to Tehran.
Dr. Ali sets out a different assessment. His sources expect an announcement early next week that hostilities are ending, beginning with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of the US naval blockade, followed by talks in Geneva with Vice President JD Vance and Pakistan providing security. He also reports that Iranian Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf is expected in Islamabad around 14 August. Larry Johnson disagrees — he argues Washington does not yet accept that it is cornered, and is still working to break the settlement. That disagreement is the substance of the program.

I suspect Larry is correct, but I'm glad there are still efforts for peace.

Doug Macgregor sees all out war inevitable.

(56 min) Doug Macgregor: All Out War w/Iran Getting Unavoidable
At about 35 min mark he ties in Ukraine to the story.

Truth is the first casualty of war.
Zionist Disinformation Circles the Globe
There is of course no evidence that IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi, has ever said what has been claimed. The quote was invented. On purpose.
...
Somewhere a false claim is launched by a not credible account. It gets quoted up a chain of ever more credible members of the public until it becomes a ‘news’ item. That item then is quoted by politicians who, most likely, were the ones who secretly initiated the rumor.
The trick is neither new nor is it specific to Israel. In the run up to the war on Iraq the office of Vice President Cheney ‘leaked’ anonymously to the New York Times that Saddam Hussein had this or that hidden weapon. The next day Cheney went on TV and, being asked, ‘confirmed’ that he had too heard about that. The planted false rumor had become an official fact.
...
Unfortunately disinformation works anyway. At least in most cases …

What's going on in Ukraine?

Ukraine battlefield failures push Europe into desperate measures

(19 min)
00:00:00 40 day campaign ends
00:00:49 Campaign result: disaster
00:02:58 Russian breakthroughs begin
00:03:30 Black Sea blockade, Ukraine landlocked
00:04:01 Zaluzhny says forget NATO
00:07:47 Patriot missile deal collapses
00:08:18 Starlink and Star Shield plan fails
00:09:08 Europe's ceasefire push
00:14:00 Russia jamming Starlink
00:16:15 Which countries send troops

Looks like Europe want full on ownership of the war. We step out, Europe steps in?
European officer to lead Ukraine aid command within a year
The Security Assistance Group Ukraine, also based in Wiesbaden, was created by the United States in 2022 to coordinate training and equipment delivery, and has operated alongside NSATU since the NATO command stood up.

Russia Rearms, West Disarms. Zelensky Wants US to Strike Russian Missile Launchers

(33 min)
00:00:00 Introduction to Project Ukraine update
00:00:30 Kremlin unifies military logistics command
00:02:17 Comparing new system to Soviet
00:03:29 Putin makes rear areas a combat task
00:04:49 New unified Russian drone command explained
00:07:15 How Russia's reshuffle differs from Ukraine's
00:09:35 Ukraine's chaotic shakeup versus Russia's smooth one
00:10:00 Zelensky furious over Patriot missile shortages
00:11:14 Zelensky wants Starlink to hit Russian launchers
00:12:37 Zelensky demands total Western commitment
00:15:09 Risk of direct US involvement in the war
00:17:07 Debating whether Ukraine can actually hit launchers
00:19:06 Russia's Rasvet satellite system explained
00:22:45 Could Russia retaliate against Starlink
00:27:15 US intelligence sharing restored, dirty war escalates

All over the world, we can't let go. We struggle to maintain empire ...
Collapsing Empire: US Creates New African Psyops Unit
Independent journalist David Hundeyin has exposed the Pentagon’s new psychological operations unit targeting Africa, “Drongo Company”. Tasked with “expanding the military’s ability to influence foreign audiences” across the continent, its heavily hyped launch occurs against a backdrop of dramatically and irreversibly waning Western influence and power in every sphere across the continent. As Africans steadily rid themselves of unwelcome foreign occupiers and oppressors, the US is forced to rely on strategies of manipulation to stem the tide, which have already failed spectacularly. They will surely misfire yet again.

US forever wars have many costs. Not only have we drained our treasury and created a mountain of debt, but we've also been steadily destroying the environment.

Earth’s Greatest Enemy, the second feature film project by Abby Martin, is a groundbreaking anti-imperialist environmental documentary.
(free trailer at link above)
Exempt from international climate agreements and rarely scrutinized in mainstream reporting, the Pentagon is the world’s single largest institutional polluter—spewing carbon, contaminating water, and scarring landscapes across the globe. Combining investigative journalism, striking visuals, and stories from impacted communities, this film challenges audiences to rethink the hidden costs of a global military empire and its planetary consequences. Provocative, urgent, and eye-opening, this is a documentary that will change how you see both the military and environmentalism.

Chris interviewed Abby. (full interview here) Here's a couple of clip from the interview....
How the U.S. Military Poisons People Abroad and at Home (w/ Abby Martin)

(8 min)

The Nexus Between Fossil Fuels and Imperialism (w/ Abby Martin)

(7 min)

Of course there' many more stories this week. I hope you'll add them to the mix in the comments below, as well as any insights and thoughts you have. The thread is open...

Don't forget to fill up every now and then!