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Attack on Saudi oil facilities has placed Trump in a ‘bind’: Analyst

Smoke is seen following a fire at an Aramco factory in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia, September 14, 2019 in this picture obtained from social media. (Via Reuters)

The attack on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities on Saturday has placed US President Donald Trump in a “bind,” and Washington’s military response to the attack could cause a “huge economic crisis” in the West, says an American writer and analyst.

Trump said on Sunday the United States is “locked and loaded” for a possible response to the recent Yemeni drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities.

“There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!" Trump said on Twitter.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put the blame for the operation on Iran, claiming, “Tehran is behind nearly 100 attacks on Saudi Arabia” and that “there is no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.”

Tehran, however, dismissed the allegation, saying Washington seems to be shifting from a failed campaign of “maximum pressure” to one of “maximum lying” and “deceit” against the Islamic Republic.

“Trump is in a bind; on the one hand he’s called to action, on the other hand, if he acts, he may very well cause a reprisal, which will take out all of Saudi oil production, which will cause a huge economic crisis in the West,” said E Michael Jones, the current editor of Culture Wars magazine.

“If you act, you’re damned if you do, and you’re damned if you don’t,” Jones said Monday in an interview with Press TV.

“At this point, the only thing that Trump can do is negotiate, this will look like backing down, but it’s the only sensible response to the issue,” he added.

Yemen said it used 10 drones for Saturday’s operation, which was one of their largest retaliatory attacks ever inside the kingdom.

The Yemeni army has said the raids were carried out on the back of an intelligence operation and in cooperation with “certain honorable and freedom-seeking individuals within Saudi Arabia.”

Yemeni fighters regularly target positions inside Saudi Arabia in retaliation for the Saudi-led offensive, which began in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall the country's Riyadh-allied former regime and crush the Houthis.

The US-backed military aggression, coupled with a naval blockade, has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, destroyed the country’s infrastructure and led to a massive humanitarian crisis.


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