b'than half its exports and a quarter of its entire econo- In Gaza, on the southern end of Israel, Iran arms andAs its largest and virtually only funding source, Ira-my, to arm and fund militant proxy groups devoted tofundsHamas,thegoverningauthorityandterroristnian oil revenue made Hamas October 7 thattack and killing Jews, Americans and their allies, and ultimatelyarmy that was formed in 1987 and had started four sep- ensuingwarwithIsraelpossible,havingbankrolled wiping Israel off the face of the earth. In Lebanon, thatarate wars with Israel since 2008, but none during theeverything from weapons and Ultra-Lights to training group is Hezbollah, which has largely controlled theyears 2017 to 2022. and intelligence. At the start of 2021, the Iranian oil in-country for almost 20 years and regularly fires rocketsdustry was given a huge assist when the U.S. rescinded into northern Israel.On October 7, 2023, Hamas carried out a brutal attackits enforcement of sanctions on crude oil sales. When In Yemen, Iran has armed and funded Ansar Allah, akaon mostly civilians living along the Gaza/Israel bor- tracking the timeline of the spike in oil prices that start-the Houthis (hoo-teez), in their civil war against theder, including thousands of young people attending aned at the end of 2021 with terrorist activity funded by Saudi-supported, American-armed Yemeni royal gov- Iranjust like the rate of inflationthey rise in unison.ernment. In support of Hamas, the Houthis have at- Iranian oil revenue made the October 7 thattack andTHE SAME RULE APPLIES TO THE OTHER BIG tacked Israel with Iranian-made ballistic missiles, all ofensuing war with Israel possible, having bankrolledTROUBLEMAKER in the world, that being Russia, which have been shot down by U.S. Navy or Israeli De- everything from weapons and Ultra-Lights towhose President-for-Life Vladimir Putin called the col-fense Forces (IDF) defense systems. In support of justtraining and intelligence. When tracking thelapse of the Soviet Union the biggest tragedy of the 20 thraising hell and seeing what they could get away with,timeline of the spike in oil prices that started at theCentury. In his quest to bring the old band back togeth-they have routinely attacked merchant ships in the Redend of 2021 with terrorist activity funded by Iran er, Putin invaded former Soviet republic Georgia and Sea with missiles and kamikaze drones. just like the rate of inflationthey rise in unison. kept two separatist regions in 2008, and later annexed The Houthis, a fierce little tribe of rebel Arab terroriststhe Crimea region of southern Ukraine in 2014. Russia who more resemble a desert civilization of Star Warsopen-air music festival. Two thousand Hamas terroristsstarted to amass troops and equipment on its border characters than professionally-trained militants, haveinvaded Israel in trucks, on motorbikes, on foot, andwith Ukraine in spring 2021, and had over 100,000 in even boldly attacked the carrier USS Harry Trumanplace by the end of the year. Likely encouraged by Pres-with missiles and drones, all of which were intercept- airborne on motorized para-gliders. More than 1,200ident Bidens permissive minor incursion comment, ed. Aside from the obvious military question of whyIsraelis were horrifically murdered, many tortured andPutinlaunchedRussiasfullinvasionofUkraineon the Navy hasnt rendered Houthi headquarters a glassraped,andover250hostagesweretakenincludingFebruary 24, 2022.factory by now, if not to extinguish a pesky, low-levelAmericans. In the fifth war started by Hamas againstOil and gas sales account for about 20% of Russias military threat, but at least to send the message to theIsrael, tens of thousands have been killed and most ofoveralleconomy,theGDPofwhichis$400billion others about screwing around with the bullthe fact isGaza has been flattened, via the Hamas strategy of us- per year smaller than that of Texas. Virtually all of the that they would not be a threat or a pest without Iran. ing human shields to generate international sympathy. countrys liquid cash comes from petroleum sales, and 50THECOASTALBENDMAGAZINE TheCoastalBend.com'